Chapter twenty eight!

This time we get to look at a magical research done by Merlot, and a bit from Hermione as well.

So let's get on with it.

—0—

"Crescendo… Crescendo Librus."

Hermione frowned as the magic in her experiment shifted, before waxing away. With a huff she stood up and added a few carved chips of oak to the rapidly expanding circle of plant samples.

It had taken a week to get this far into the testing phase. It had been several months of constant writing and theorizing. Hermione had even drowned out several defense lessons at the beginning of the year to figure out some of her equations.

The magic should have worked. Her math was always right. And if her theory about magical energy being closely linked to life was true, then the best medium of channeling magic would be a living organism. Plant leaves, bits of bark. Hermione had looked into each and every one, studying the magical symbolism of flowers and other flora. This formula should have given her the response she was searching for, but she was only faced with yet another failure.

"Come on, work!"

Hermione raised her wand and focused magic into her circle of plants. Oak for strength. White lilacs for purity, dandelion fuzz, representing transportation. The list went on.

The magic grew and grew as it passed through each component, drawing bear to the end of the circle. Hermione grunted and gripped her wand tightly, forcing the magic to remain manageable.

Once again it faded before it reached the end of her circle.

Hermione groaned and fell to her knees. It was no use, she would have to scrap this theory and start from square one.

"Oh, hi Hermione."

The girl turned to see her roommate standing in the door. "You're going to clean all of this up… right?"

The girl rolled her eyes and waved her wand with a few muttered verses of Latin, causing the plants to float up and zip back into a series of containers on her desk.

"Every time you do that, it astounds me…" Hermione's roommate shook her head. "Flitwick wanted to see you before dinner."

"That's not for another few hours." Hermione replied.

"Before Hufflepuffs first dibs."

"Oh. Well thanks for the notice." Hermione grumbled, getting to her feet.

Without looking back at her work, the girl walked out of her room. She needed something to cool her off.

—0—

Merlot sat in the corner of the west courtyard, grinning down at her latest project. The runic array she had built was comprised of seventy two different runes, with not four cardinal runes, but six.

The array was written down in a notebook she was currently using for her magical discoveries. Understanding that her experiments should be recorded as she learned. Merlot had used each page as notes for the runic effects of the array, how the magic would reflect through each mark of power, and what it would do.

Since it was a starting project, Merlot had decided to keep the array simple. Now, one might look at seventy two runes and laugh at the word 'simple', but in reality most useable runic arrays were composed of hundreds of runes. The simplest one that Merlot had come across, other than the example in the book (Which apparently burned out after five minutes of use, so it wasn't really usable.) Was the one she was working on now. Of course, most runic arrays that she found didn't work off of a six cardinal point system. Rings of runes were common, and were applied to wardstones, giving the illusion of a spherical array. However, a true spherical array was never even considered.

That was odd, in Merlot's opinion. From her equations, a spherical array should work, and it would be more magically efficient. Of course, there was the small issue of the material she would use.

From what she read in the library, runestones were often made of rock that lasted for ages. The grain of the stone helped direct the flow of the runes. The easiest to enchant were sedimentary, with each layer holding their own ring. It made the flow of magic stay within the rune circle. Two dimensional arrays were always easier to make, since there was no third dimension that could throw off the array's charge of magic.

If a three dimensional rune array were to be successfully made, it would need to go through a material that had a consistent grain. Something small… clear.

Gemstones were much too coveted by the living. They were seen as precious treasure, holding mere monetary value and not much magical value. Merlot couldn't even find many references to gemstones as magical components in ritual spells.

Her first experiment would be on an orb of glass. It wasn't a traditional gemstone, but they substituted enough in the looks department. Having a perfect sphere of glass would be great for the test of her three dimensional runic array.

Glass was used for divination, often referred to as a 'crystal' ball. Real crystal balls were rare, simply because they were delicate and often broken in fights between greedy witches and wizards. It was perfect for channeling magic into, the grain of the glass would suit her needs and equally distribute power to her array.

The problem would be finding the time to carve each rune.

Merlot already had enough glass spheres to use. Scortwit had sent her some when she asked about them weeks ago. Ever since her first defense class, her mind had been filled with the idea for the three dimensional array, and so he had sent them with her broomstick.

"Well, no time like the present." Merlot sighed, rolling up the sleeves of her robe. She carefully raised her wand and put the tip to the first glass sphere.

"Interficiam Parva."

Merlot felt her wand shudder. The tip glowed gray with her spell as she brought it to the glass sphere. As the spell touched the surface of the orb, a great crack appeared in its shape, before it split in half.

"Shoot… I guess I'll need to find some other way to carve these…" Merlot sighed, discarding the pieces of the orb in a bin labeled 'repair'. "Maybe I'll just have to do them by hand?"

The girl sighed and took another glass sphere, this time using the tip of a steel tipped quill to carve a rune into the surface of the glass. It wasn't completely pretty. The carving was jagged and a bit messy. There was little doubt in her mind that if the runes were like this, her array wouldn't work.

Merlot cast a repair charm on the scratched orb and set it with the others. She turned her wand to the shattered orb and repaired it as well, looking to put it back in place with the complete set. Still, there was an imperfection in the once broken glass sphere. A single crack that ran in the center of it. A thin line that was magnified a thousand times over. It ruined the grain that she required.

"Damn…"

"Y-You know, someone your age shouldn't be using such l-language."

Merlot turned to see Professor Quirrell standing on the steps at the edge of the courtyard. His face was a bit more pale than usual, but Merlot chalked that up to the fact he was out of his classroom.

"I didn't see you there, sir."

"I-it's not a-as if I w-wish to be s-seen." The man replied.

Merlot nodded. "Sorry… I wasn't thinking-"

"It's quite a-alright." The man said. "D-d-dumbledore suggested I g-get out more. H-help with my n-nerves."

Merlot nodded, turning her attention back to the glass sphere in her hand.

"W-what have you g-got there M-miss S-scortwit?"

Merlot blinked, before looking back and forth between the glass and the professor. "Oh! Right, sorry. A bit of a side project I'm working on."

"S-seems quite inte-interesting." Quirrell smiled. "M-mind if I-"

"Take a look?" Merlot smiled. "Of course not. Here are my notes."

The professor walked over and sat down next to the girl. His hands twitched every so often as he looked through her notes. "Interesting… Q-quite ingenious actually."

Merlot nodded. "The only problem I'm running into now is carving. I've shattered the first one with my wand… it won't mend properly."

Quirell took the glass ball in hand and looked it over. "I see… A suture charm is q-quite advanced magic… Where did you learn it?"

"That's what it's called?" Merlot blinked. "I picked it up a bit ago, around halloween. I just had a sort of… hint from beyond. It's advanced?"

The professor nodded, handing the glass sphere back. "It's a charm that was developed many decades ago by old healers, in order to perform surgeries. It's mainly taught to medi witches and wizards who work at magical hospitals."

Merlot blinked. "That's interesting…" 'He doesn't stutter when he talks about things that excite him…'

"Indeed… Though the charm is considered d-dark."

Merlot blinked. "Really? But it was invented for medical procedures."

Quirrell gave a twitchy smile. "Y-yes, well… d-dark doesn't necessarily mean evil. However, the suture charm can easily be used to harm."

Merlot nodded as Quirrell drew his wand, a length of alder. With a simple whisper of the suture charms incantation, the tip of his wand glowed gray.

"The danger of this charm is that while it provides incredible accuracy for surgical procedures, or even artwork… the magic is set to divide. Plainly put, it convinces the material of the world that it interacts with to separate from itself, and it doesn't distinguish between them. For example."

Quirrel dragged the tip of his wand over a pillar in the courtyard, slicing a line straight through it. "Simple and efficient…" Quirrell breathed. "For fragile materials, it can cause them to shatter, like your glass sphere."

Merlot nodded as Quirrell stood up, raising his wand to eye level. "And beyond that, it can have some rather peculiar effects when paired with wind magic. Aeolo Addere."

A gust of wind began swirling around the glowing tip of Quirrell's wand. As he dragged it through the air, the low rumble of thunder emanated from its path.

"Thunder…" Merlot breathed.

"Scientifically, it is the sound of air rushing into the burnt space caused by lightning." Quirrell nodded. "So if you divide air, it will go back to the same space, creating thunder."

"Incredible…"Merlot breathed.

Seeming to remember that she was there, Quirrell turned and gave a twitchy smile. "Q-Quite. If you're going to c-carve runes into glass. M-Ishtar I suggest a s-spell with a m-more delicate approach?"

Merlot nodded. "Anything would help at this point."

Quirrell nodded. "There's a spell that isn't often used by many wizards or witches. It is known as an etching charm. Be very careful with it, it can easily go out of control and cause some r-rather n-nasty damage."

Merlot nodded and stood up. "I am ready to learn."

"Very well. The etching charm is another dark charm that has been used here and there for several magical artifacts, namely blood quills. It will use your own blood to etch whatever you write into your medium."

"Blood magic?" Merlot's eyes widened a bit.

Quirrell nodded. "It is important for you to know, miss Scortwit. This magic is one of two ways to etch runes in delicate mediums, and the other is much more v-violent."

Merlot nodded. "Still…"

"Not all dark magic is evil, Miss Scortwit. If I believed that you weren't suited for it, I wouldn't teach it to you."

Merlot nodded. "I guess I just don't understand why you, a teacher who teaches us to defend against the dark, is showing me how to use such magic."

Quirrell nodded. "W-well… I find it e-easier to defend against w-what you know. Now, observe. Hemorra Corto!"

The result was similar to the suture charm, with the tip of Quirrells wand glowing, only this time, it was a deep purple light. Quirrell picked up a stone from the ground and dragged his wand across it. Merlot watched as the surface of the stone yielded to the professor's magic, and he etched a rune into its surface.

Quirrell finished with a wince and cut the spell off. He held the stone out for Merlot to see, before revealing the back of his wand hand. The same rune was carved into his skin and was beginning to bleed a bit.

"As I s-said, exercise c-caution."

Merlot bit her lip as she looked at the professor's hand, before she reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out a phial of green liquid.

"Wiggenweld?" Quirrell raised an eyebrow.

"I'm one of Snape's top students. He lets us keep our potions. I always carry some wiggenweld a with me in case anything happens, now hold out your hand."

Quirrell nervously held out his injured hand. Merlot let a few drops of the potion fall upon his wound.

The skin on the professor's hand crawled back together. He nodded with approval as he looked it over. "Topical wiggenweld… How interesting."

"I'm working on a recipe that is a stronger form of dittany essence."

Quirrell nodded. "Y-you are a g-great student Miss S-Scortwit."

"Thank you professor. And thank you for showing me this charm."

Quirrell nodded and put his wand away, nodding as he bid goodbye. "P-please remember-"

"Exercise caution." Merlot smiled. "I will sir. Thank you."

Quirrell returned to the castle as Merlot remained in the courtyard. With a nod to herself, she turned around and picked up an untouched glass sphere.

"Hemorra Corto!"

The tip of Merlot's wand lit up with a dull purple glow. As she brought the wand to the surface of the glass, she was aware of the dull cutting feeling upon her forearm. Regardless of the pain, Merlot pushed on, finishing the first of her six cardinal runes.

Gar, the rune of the spear. One down, seventy one to go.

Merlot rolled back the sleeve of her robes and looked at where the rune had been carved into her skin. She poked at it with a hiss of pain before taking out her vial of topical wiggenweld and administering a few drops.

The broken skin of the wound crawled back and mended itself, feeling rather itchy as it did so. Merlot sighed as she looked at the pink skin that had just healed over. She decided to carve the opposing cardinal rune and then be done for the day. This time she felt the pain more. It was not as dull, rather it was as if someone was carving at her skin with a knife, slowly rending her skin as she finished the last line of the rune.

Is, the rune of ice, and self control.

Once again, Merlot healed herself with the wiggenweld. Looking over her work with an appraining eye, she eventually nodded and set the crystal ball with the others.

Picking up a piece of parchment, Merlot transfigured it into a sheet of black velvet, which she set around the carved sphere of glass.

Finding the cushioning to be adequate, Merlot closed the case that contained the glass balls, and gingerly carried it back to her dorm. Knocking on the side of the largest keg in the castle's wine cellar caused the front to split open and swung inward, giving her access to the Hufflepuffs common room.

"Hi Merlot!"

Hannah greeted her as she stepped towards their room. "I was look for you, Professor Flitwick wanted to see the both of us before dinner."

Merlots brow furrowed. "But… I'll be leaving soon. I need to pack for tomorrow."

Hannah nodded. "It's okay, I'll help you pack. You get back on Thursday, right?"

Merlot nodded as they walked into their dorm. "Would you like me to bring anything back? Scortwit's sending me with wine for the teachers, as a gift. There'll be vendors and artisans from the nearby village, if you want homemade bread or cheese."

Hannah smiled. "If you must, I do enjoy some rarer types of cheese. Now, what are you packing?"

Merlot blinked. "Mainly my research things. These glass balls, my notes… I want to keep them to myself."

Hannah nodded and began rifling over Merlot's desk, sorting papers together into neat stacks when she was finished, Merlot organized them in a folder which she put back upon her desk.

"I think that's everything…"

Hannah nodded and began walking out of the room. "Come on, you don't have much time, right?"

Merlot nodded and followed the girl out of the Hufflepuff house dormitories and up to professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Ah! Glad you could join us" the professor spoke as they entered the room. Merlot and Hannah found that there were six other students present, sitting in places around the classroom.

"You wanted to speak with us sir?" Merlot asked. Flitwick smiled.

"Indeed I did! You see, I have been given permission to do something that hasn't been done at Hogwarts for many years, and you right are going to help me do it."

Hermione, who was sitting alone, off to the left of the room, raised her hand.

"Questions will have to wait until I can explain everything." Flitwick smiled. "You see, the professors have all taken notice of the hard working first years this year, and we have been searching for some way to further advance your education."

Merlot and Hannah sat down as Flitwick waved his wand, distributing several old books among the eight students.

"Dueling one o' one?" Hannah blinked.

"Dueling?" Merlot blinked.

"A formal magical fight between two individuals." Hannah answered.

"Sir, I must apologize." Merlot raised a hand. "I don't use magic on others."

Flitwick blinked. "You don't?"

"Unless I absolutely have to. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Flitwick nodded. "That's quite alright, and we can talk about it more in the future. Would it still be alright if you joined us to learn some of the spells and strategies I wish to go over? I will only have you practice on dummies of course."

Merlot nodded and let her hand go back down. "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

"Wonderful! Now, I know that your time is limited today, so I will send you an owl when you return with these sessions scheduled for you. Take a book on your way out."

"Thank you sir.a few days Hannah."

"By Merlot, Have fun with the grapes." Hannah smiled.

"I'll bring you back something fun, I promise." Merlot smiled, leaving the classroom. She walked back to her dorm and grabbed her research, along with Despereaux, who had been napping in the drawer of her bedside table. With all of her things ready, she made her way to the headmasters office.

"Ah, wonderful to meet you Miss Scortwit." Albus Dumbledore spoke as she entered the room. "I hope you didn't have much trouble finding your way here."

"I had always wondered why that gargoyle was there…" Merlot nodded. "Also, I like lemon drops too."

"Ah! Wonderful. Do take one before you go." The headmaster smiled and held out a bowl of the small yellow candies.

"Thank you."

"I believe Charles said he would come and collect you ten minutes from now, so we have a little bit of time. How are you finding your school year so far?"

Merlot smiled at the man. "Oh it's wonderful. Everyone here is so nice, and I'm learning so much. The only thing that recently came up is Flitwick's dueling team. I don't like using magic on other people."

"Ah…" Albus nodded. "I see you have experienced the horrors of magic first hand… It is a delicate balance, you know. Magic is a blessing, and can be used for wonderful things. However-"

"It can easily kill." Merlot finished darkly.

"Indeed." Albus pursed his lips. "From the sound of it now, it seems as though you have done some killing yourself."

Merlot's face whitened and she shook a bit. "Yes… well… I haven't…"

"It's quite alright." Albus nodded. "Accidental magic is part of the developmental path of young wizards and witches. I know several who have had their first instance of magic kill someone. It can certainly be a love-hate relationship after you witness these horrors committed unknowingly. You begin to fear the power you hold."

Merlot nodded as Albus motioned to the papers in her hand. "I assume that is why you have been working on your runic array?"

"How did you-"

"Professor Quirrell may be a wreck sometimes, but as you no doubt have figured out, he has a brilliant mind. He came to me a bit ago, quite worried about your work after he understood what it was for. He was furious with himself for helping you with it."

Merlot nodded. "I didn't wish for him to be upset…"

"Miss Scortwit." Albus nodded. "You will find that no matter what your past may have been, there are always those who will love you. Sealing your magic away within a diamond will not help anyone."

Merlot nodded and bowed her head. "I just… I don't want to hurt anyone… I wish that I could be normal."

"My dear," Albus's eyes twinkled. "You are far from normal in the best possible way. From what I hear about your classes, you are a wonderful student, a prodigy at flying, and beyond all of that, a good friend. When you return, I would recommend some consultations with Madam Pomfrey in the medical wing."

"Yes sir…"

"And Miss Scortwit, for your project on runes. While I wish for you to drop your end goal, I do not wish for you to stop in your research of them entirely. You have intrigued me a bit, so I will request some time on each Saturday or Sunday. You can come and do your research under my eye, and perhaps I can teach you a few tricks of my own."

Merlot blinked. "You mean, you wish to teach me?"

"Not completely teach, as much as push in the proper direction, my dear." Dumbledore nodded as the flames of his fireplace turned bright green. "Ah, that must be Charles. Leave your research here, my dear. I promise not to look at it, but it would also be beneficial for you to spend some time apart from your… solution… Make sure that Charles does send back the wine he promised as well please."

"I will sir. You may feel free to look at it if you wish. Just don't steal it for yourself." Merlot nodded. "And sir,"

"Yes?" Albus's eyes twinkled a bit as he looked at her, standing before the flames.

"Thank you."

With that, Scortwit hopped out of the flames and nodded to Dumbledore, before taking Merlot into the fire and disappearing in a flash.

Albus sighed and leaned back in his chair. He had never had such a thing happen before. Light's gifts allowed him to see magical signatures, but the gifts he had been born with allowed him to briefly see who a person would become. It was why he prided himself as a teacher, and in his folly he believed that he could make a difference with Tom.

But Tom slipped through his fingers due to Light's manipulations. Now anytime there was potential for a strong wizard or witch, he would feel Light press against his mind, eager to make them his puppet.

But this time, he saw Merlot Scortwit, older, stronger. Instead of one, there were three, one version of the girl with eyes of the most brilliant green, one with twinkling blue eyes, and a third with eyes that were blood red. Each was barefoot, tattered robes revealing legs stained red by some substance. Each held their wand high, magic coiling around their frames as their hair whipped about on a nonexistent breeze. This witch, these witches, they were powerful, far more powerful than Dumbledore had seen in normal magicals.

And despite their power, their strength of a true leader, and their unity, Light shrank. These witches made the entity afraid, it was something that Albus couldn't have even fathomed.

But for the first time in weeks, he didn't require Fawkes tears to bind the being.

Albus looked down at the folder on his desk. No, this time the being would stay out of his way. He would have Merlot Scortwit become a fully realized witch, one that would solve the war between light and dark for good.

With a careful hand, Albus leafed through the folder and drew out the final few pages.

To an untrained eye, it would look like the work of a genius. And we'll, it was. There was no denying that Merlot was a prodigy.

But the true use of this research made Albus oh so sad. A genius who wished for their own downfall had turned their backs on everyone else. She kept a smile on her face while she plotted her own demise.

Albus leafed through the pages of research, his frown deepening as he read over the information on the binding array. Three hundred and sixty five runes, for the three hundred and sixty days in a year. They would be arranged around six cardinal runes, north, south, east, west, up, down, with a seventh formed in the middle, the most sacred magical number. It would be set in a Diamond, the hardest of gemstones, and the purest of all minerals. The arithmancy was there, the idea was there, and Albus knew that this array would work. Merlot Scortwit had figured out a way to strip herself of her own magic.

Whatever she had done to warrant such an idea, to warrant such sorrow and keep it from others. Albus wasn't sure he wished to know. For now, he would put her project to rest. He kept the ideas for other three dimensional arrays, hoping that she would expand upon them.

The binding array was cast into the headmaster's fireplace, meeting a swift end as the parchment crumpled under the heat of the flames.

And as he watched the pages fall to ash, flames licking up the small tatters of burned plant fiber. Albus gave a sigh of relief. Fawkes gave a soft trill as he swooped into the office and landed upon his perch.

"Yes old friend. As I said, there is much to do."

—0—

The next chapter is done! Sorry if there's a bit of jumping in here, I wanted to bring in a bit about Quirrell, and a bit about Dumbledore. There are significant roles that both of them will play. Granted, Dumbledore more than Quirrell, but Quirrell is incredibly essential to Merlot's development.

Also, you will notice that Merlot doesn't like using magic on living things. I have specified that a few times now. This is all because of her past, and it will be discussed a lot in the philosopher's stone arc.

Anyways, as always, leave a review. And until next time,

Adios!