Author's Note: I'm still here, just trying to get through life and writing when possible. Many of my notes got deleted accidentally, so I'm rebuilding my storyboard in an app with some backup. I just returned from a business trip to China and finished some writing because there wasn't much to do outside of work. I managed to find a lot of good information on Chinese and Southeast Asian mythology while I was there, much of which I will include next year when more international students are at the school. I couldn't post the new chapter while I was in China, because even with a VPN, everything is ridiculously slow. Maybe I'll get sent to Thailand next time, and it will be more fun there. It would be much easier to take a short vacation from that trip and visit the Philippines and maybe Babuyan Island, which is what I used as the basis for Harry and Lyra's home. It's actually a bit weird that it was just about 600 miles from my location, but I couldn't visit.
Chameleon
Homework in the first year of classes had mainly been repetition. Doing spell work over and over or memorizing potion ingredients or other information. The assignment from the Unspeakables had been fun but not required. From being told by their friends in the years ahead of them, that would all change in the second year with essays and special projects for all their subjects. The first one was the assignment they had for History from Professor Umbridge.
The book When Muggles Attack seemed to be written to scare wizards into keeping away from muggles, though much of the first chapter rang true to Harry. It spoke of the many ways that muggles had tried to cure children of witchcraft or stories from newspapers of encounters between muggles and wizards that ended in violence. The chapter wasn't very long but ended by posing, "What would muggles do to you if they knew of the great feats you could perform?"
Harry followed the assignment and listed potentially dangerous situations he might experience with a muggle.
1. A relative could punish a magical child for performing magic.
2. A muggle relative who knew about magic could refuse to tell a magical child they were performing magic.
Thinking about his childhood made him realize how much easier all of his chores could have been had he been able to use magic as well as he could now. Cleaning would have taken no time at all. His aunt would probably cut off a finger to have some magical fertilizer in her garden. She always wanted to win the neighborhood prize for the best garden but never came in higher than third runner-up.
3. A muggle takes advantage of a naive wizard to win a competition.
4. A wizard uses too much magic in a single area and attracts the attention of the police and Aurors at the same time.
Harry was almost certain that his incident with the washing machine must have brought Aurors and Obliviators to Privet Drive, even if he never saw them. He continued the list, basing most of them off his childhood experiences and a few on his time at the fun fair with Liz. He tried to ensure that the situations involved adult wizards so anyone other than Lyra wouldn't think they were his own experiences.
When he finished his assignment, Harry picked up Lockhart's book and found the next chapter already filled in. Lyra must have already read it, so he didn't bother looking for her to join him. He climbed his favorite tree in the common room to read it himself.
Chapter 3: The Feast of a Severed Bond
One of the more common encounters that a wizard may experience with a being that feeds on emotions is a Veela. Veela are some of the most beautiful creatures in the world, though I have met many other women, wizards, and muggles who are far more so. Veela are almost always taller than the average woman and have silver hair that sometimes glows. Like many magical demi-humans, they also will always have daughters, never sons. Most of us already think that these creatures feed on the lust they inspire in men and some women. I don't believe this to be the truth. I believe it may appear this way to a casual observer, but a more sinister secret lies beneath.
Mundane mosquitos and some magical variants will feed on your blood but also leave behind some of their saliva, which causes an itch and the bump that signifies it has been there. I believe that the Veela engage in a similar practice.
Veela emit a magical allure that inspires lust or envy in those who come close to it, so it is a common belief that they pursue anyone who falls prey to it. However, my research has led me to think that they target those who can resist it. The ability to resist doesn't come from someone who is magically powerful, as some of the strongest wizards have been seduced by a Veela. The power to resist comes from the strength of their attachments to others. Typically, this is a romantic bond, but it could be any bond between a group of people.
Veela will get power from the destruction of that bond. First, she will put herself between the people in the bond; usually, that means with sex. She feeds on the emotional bond between the people involved as if it were a tangible thing. Though, like a mosquito, she will also leave an itch behind. While she damages the bond, she will fill the void left behind with guilt. The guilt will remain there until the infected person ends their bond with their partner(s), and the Veela will feast upon the severed bond across any distance.
Most Veela I have encountered have been very polite and will take a strong rejection as reason enough not to try to engage with a wizard. Like a vampire, though, there are people who they will deliberately avoid or seek to keep for themselves. Veela have no interest in those who are self-centered and do not connect with others. If the only person you care about is yourself or you do not inspire loyalty in others, you are about as appetizing to them as a puke-flavored Bertie Bott's Jellybean. Alternatively, someone who inspires true devotion or faith in others is someone a Veela may seek as a lifelong companion as the loyalty they inspire in others would be like ambrosia to them, and severing that would be like destroying a priceless work of art.
One final note on the subject - Do not anger a Veela. While they are capable of using a wand, they do not require it. They can transform into a form similar to a harpy, capable of flight, and will conjure fire in various forms.
Harry put down the book. All of Lockhart's information matched up with what he knew about Madeline from the mercenary group that Brandt had hired on the island. She had only engaged with those whom she had not been forbidden to be near or specifically told her "no." Both Tristan and Tonks felt a strong desire to tell their partners about their affairs, though Tonks's relationship didn't end for that reason. Harry was curious about how that affected the feeding, assuming Lockhart's theories were true.
Transfiguration continued to review their previous year's lessons, ensuring everyone could reach a benchmark level of ability in each. Harry and a few other students were given larger objects than the rest of the class to transfigure. He was the first one in their year to transfigure a wooden branch the size of his staff into a giant needle and the reverse of a sword into a broom.
It didn't seem like Professor Flitwick was bothering to review old material like McGonagall, though he did start instructing them on more uses for the animation charm. Instead of blocks or pineapples, he brought in mannequins for them to charm. Each was smaller than a house elf, but they still required incredible concentration to work with. None of the wooden figurines had a solid structure, with string keeping all their parts together; but without magic, they just lay in a heap on the floor. Their professor quickly displayed a complicated gymnastics routine for a full-sized figure and then started them on their own.
Harry and Lyra were two of the first few students to get theirs to stand up straight; though the heads rolled to the side and they couldn't get the arms to do more than twitch, still, it was deserving of points from their teacher. They were all given one of the puppets and told to practice for homework.
At their detention for causing chaos in the Slytherin common room, Harry and Lyra had to harvest new Bezoars along with the rest of the students who had used them. However, at the end of the punishment period, Professor Snape called for their attention.
"During your class, Mr. Quincy's spell failed only partially. Which is still a complete failure in my book." Leonard hung his head in shame at the statement. "Mr. Potter tried to save him by grinding up a bezoar and using the vulnerability in the partial success of his partner's spell to save his classmate. This kind of thought process and experimentation is something that I encourage before your OWL year."
Leonard whispered a quick thanks to Harry, and many others looked at him and smiled.
"Mr. Potter's attempt was an even bigger failure than any of you realize," Snape grabbed their attention back and shocked Harry. "Professor Sprout told me you were informed about the nature of the poison I used in the class, so you all know that it causes convulsions and sleep. Mr. Potter's attempt was a novel idea, but it failed because a bezoar needs to be ingested, not aspirated. You will learn about treatments that need to be inhaled, injected, or applied topically in your OWL year for poisons that a bezoar does not counter by ingesting. Additionally, Mr. Potter's attempt caused additional treatments in the infirmary to remove the crushed particles from Mr. Quicny's lungs."
Harry whispered to Leonard, "Sorry…"
"I didn't know… and I'm fine now," he replied with a shrug.
"Just to be clear," Snape told them, "I will poison all of you multiple times throughout your time at Hogwarts. You will all visit the infirmary for different reasons while you are here, and there is a great likelihood it will be as a result of NOT PAYING ATTENTION." He delivered the last statement with a loud and forceful voice.
"If you manage to make it through your seven years here without such an incident from a potion-related mishap, it will be because you took my warnings seriously, studied hard, practiced, and were not a complete dunderhead. I can count the number of students who have achieved this on one hand. However, if you think you will be someone who is not one of those people, you should start stocking up on bezoars and other antidotes on your own."
He waited for a moment before telling them, "Dismissed."
Friday started for most of the second-year Scamanders with dread. After astronomy the previous night, the Quidditch team needed to wake up before dawn for practice. However, despite the lack of sleep, Harry was still full of energy from the night and used it to power through the warm-up exercises while most of the others complained. Greg also seemed somewhat energized, and the two of them sparred with his boxing gloves while they waited for others to finish their own warmups. The boxing gloves still did little to affect Greg but were quite a workout for Harry to punch the larger boy while ducking and dodging his larger and stronger swings.
Lyra had been flying around the pitch as soon as she finished running up and down the stairs to the stadium seats. Harry had to look away many times as she seemed to be daring herself to do more and more dangerous stunts between the towers that surrounded the area. However, when the sun began to peak over the horizon, she stopped and stared at it. Staring at the rising sun, she spread her arms to seem to absorb the light and heat from sunrise. As it finished rising above the horizon, her hair burst into flame, and she took off, flying laps around the stadium, trailing fire like a meteorite.
When practice was over, despite the early hour, everyone was charged with energy, and few bothered to take baths or showers for fear of cooling off from that feeling. That didn't stop any of them from gorging themselves on breakfast and preparing for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which would certainly be interesting.
Somehow, on the way to the classroom, Harry got separated from Lyra. He found himself in a long corridor, completely alone, heading towards the entrance to the classroom on the second floor. Harry suddenly grew alarmed at the disappearances of not just Lyra but literally anyone and every sound that normally accompanied the middle of the day at Hogwarts. As he looked back the way he came, the corridor seemed to turn into a long tunnel, putting the main staircase further and further away from where he was standing until he couldn't see the end. There was no light at the end of this tunnel.
Looking back toward where the classroom was, the hallway seemed to shrink, and the walls became more narrow. Panic began to creep into his mind. Harry immediately shut his eyes, and the panic slowly receded. As an experiment, Harry opened one eye, and the feeling of panic returned almost instantly. He experimented with opening and closing his eyes, then adjusting his occlumency to see if he could block out the emotion; sadly, that did not help. He couldn't just walk around with his eyes shut, so he tried to think of another solution.
Trying to remember where he was, he knew he had barely started down the corridor before whatever happened to him began. Focusing on his memories, which he had made after dozens of explorations around this particular castle section, he knew the classroom was six doors down on the left, next to a particularly short suit of armor. Taking an experimental step forward, Harry slowly worked his way forward with his eyes shut, feeling his way along the wall and counting the number of doors and suits of armor until he got to the short knight. Feeling the handle, he opened it and stepped inside, then braced for when he would open his eyes. Surprisingly, there was no overwhelming panic, just the stone amphitheater from the previous class. Professor Lupin sat in his spot at the center with a surprised look on his face, with Luna Lovegood sitting in the first row playing pattycake with Murray the Cornish Pixie.
"Mr. Potter," Lupin addressed him. "How on earth did you get past the fear ward so quickly?"
Harry ignored the question and demanded, "Where is my sister? What did you do with the others?"
"They were all there," Luna replied. "You were all wandering around and staring at the walls."
"Miss Lovegood was seemingly unaffected but speaks the truth," Lupin told him. "As soon as you entered the corridor, you were completely isolated so that you couldn't perceive anyone else, but were all still there. That, combined with a fear ward and an endless tunnel enchantment, put you into a panic. Everyone in your class is fine."
Harry turned around and opened the door to look back down the hallway. For a brief moment, he saw dozens of students wandering near the staircases, mostly standing in a line and refusing to walk forward, with a few others closer. That moment passed quickly before they all disappeared. The hallway began to lengthen, and the walls started to close in. Harry quickly shut his eyes and pulled himself back into the classroom.
With his fears assuaged slightly, he told the professor, "I closed my eyes. Whatever was happening seemed to be related to me looking at it, then I just remembered where the classroom was and counted the doors as I moved forward."
"That is a good method, though the fear ward should have still affected you even if the tunnel enchantment was not affecting you," Lupin questioned.
"Closing my eyes helped," Harry shrugged. "Darkness has always been comforting to me, and I've always felt more alive at night."
Over the next several minutes, other students stumbled into the room; some limping or bruised, others with a dazed look on their faces. Colin arrived in the first group, stumbling and blinking, with his wand lit right before his face. As they traded stories, Colin had taken a similar approach as Harry, though he had put a bright light in front of his face that obscured his vision but allowed him to see through the enchantment and then just took little steps forward as he pushed through the fear. Twenty minutes after class started, Lyra stumbled into the room, holding Toby by the back of his neck and poking him in the back with her wand. As they collapsed into the room, he turned around and gave her a big hug, which she returned, and then they split up, with Toby stumbling over the other side of the room, holding onto his back where Lyra's wand had been poking him.
To Harry's questioning look, Lyra replied, "We found that pain beats whatever the magic was, and even though we couldn't see each other, I just held onto Toby's neck and hit him with pinching jinxes as we moved through." Harry shrugged as she sat down.
Thirty minutes into the class, Lupin pulled out an object that looked like a compass and twisted it. A minute later, the remaining students pooled into the room, looking haggard and scared. Lupin let them gather and speak about their experiences for another fifteen minutes before speaking.
"You all experienced a stacked set of wards and enchantments designed to deprive you of your friends, trap you, and instill fear in your minds. Those of you who got through before I dispelled the effect did it through further distorting your senses, using discomfort to overcome the effect, simply pushing through the fear, or using different innate abilities to beat this test. You all get fifteen points to your house."
"You said you wouldn't do something like that until next month!" someone accused their professor.
"Technically, I said the next group obstacle course wouldn't be until next month. However, if you still feel that this was breaking my promise, you can tell yourself that I lied," their professor told them with a shrug. "You can also assume I will surprise you with other situations like that through the year, though the only three-person obstacle courses will be at the beginning of the month. Happy?"
No one seemed to be.
"What else are we doing today?" Luna asked in a cheery voice.
Lupin clapped his hands twice, and nine podiums appeared behind him. Each had a round red stone on the top that seemed to glow slightly. Harry and Lyra immediately and instinctively jumped back at the sight of them.
"Each of these stones is enchanted with a different type of ward that affects your senses," he clapped his hands again, and tables appeared near the door along with different teas and treats. "All of these are real and have various flavors and temperatures. Go eat or drink something now and remember it. They will help you regain your senses if you feel confused after being too near each of these wards."
All of the students approached the table, and Harry picked up a small cookie with what looked like a red jam in the center. It had a sweet smell of a freshly baked cookie, and when he bit into it, he found the jam was cherry. When he was done savoring the snack, he moved to the first podium. When he got right next to it, he felt like his feet were yanked out from under him and jammed into the ceiling. His arms were thrown upward as they were pulled toward the floor. As vertigo washed over him, Harry looked around to see the podium still in front of him and pushed his arms back down until he could grip the sides of where the gem sat in front of him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was now in the ceiling, but as he looked around, the room hadn't changed at all. Nothing else was falling or moving the way he felt. With great effort, he took two steps backward, and the feeling vanished, falling on his rear as he regained his sense of up and down.
Needing a break, he returned to the table and had a snack while watching other students on the other stations. He couldn't tell the effects just by watching but they all looked disturbing. However, after the first encounter, he knew that all he had to do was step away to break free from the magic. When he felt ready, he went to the next one.
The other effects turned out to be smelling rotten eggs, like there was a spider in the back of his throat, hearing panicked screaming all around him, seeing ghostly apparitions with weapons all around, going completely blind, and going completely numb starting from his feet and spreading up his body until he collapsed and rolled away. The last two were the worst. The eighth gem, Harry could swear he could hear his Aunt Petunia chatting with her friends about nothing in particular, just random gossip that he used to hear while locked in his bedroom… No, it wasn't a bedroom, he reminded himself. It was a boot cupboard. The final stone made him jump away as soon as he touched it, having heard his sister's voice as she whispered, "Freak." With cautious and fearful curiosity, he reached out again and heard the voice of Severus Snape, which sent shivers down his spine as he said, "Disappointment."
Harry retreated back to the refreshment table as quickly as he could and stuffed himself with biscuits and tea to try and forget what he heard. As soon as Lyra was done, she came to him, and they shared a deep hug as she cried a little, saying she had heard him calling her a squib. The deepest insults they could have given each other was what they had heard from that stone. The snacks continued to refresh themselves as students gorged themselves after completing each station. Many were also overwhelmed with emotion and were using the food and drink to try and stabilize themselves.
"I'm sure you all figured out what the wards were. However, in case you didn't, they were vertigo, a random smell of decay, the feeling of something trying to escape from inside of you, panicked screaming in your ears, illusions of ghostly warriors, blindness, losing feeling in your legs, a random pleasant childhood memory, and the feeling of betrayal," Lupin informed the class.
"All of these feelings can be resisted," he continued. "You can learn to isolate reality from what wards like these can show you. No points for anyone now; however, I will keep these in the hallway outside the classroom, and any time you want to test yourself, you will get one point for your house to try. You will get five points every time you try the betrayal ward, as that is the most emotionally taxing."
No one replied. Harry assumed with great certainty that no number of house points was worth going near that last one again. It also made him a bit sad to think that hearing his Aunt gossiping with her friends while he was locked in his cupboard counted as a 'pleasant childhood memory.'
With no one replying to him, Lupin let them out of class early.
After turning in their homework for History, everyone took their seats while Professor Umbridge looked through their assignments, only stopping to shush anyone who started talking and deduct points from those further back in the room. Nearly twenty minutes into the class, she shuffled through the homework assignments and started reading off random responses, either praising them for their insight into how dangerous muggles could be or scolding them for naivety.
Harry acknowledged that many of the ideas of some of the students more fearful of muggles could be accurate, though there seemed to be quite a few students that took it way too far, though they also seemed to be given the most amount of points by their smirking "Professor." When she read off a few of Harry's answers, she gave him a quizzical look and smiled before moving on.
The lesson of the day continued from where they had left off with muggleborn breaches of the Statute of Secrecy and moved on to breaches committed by the parents and relatives of muggleborn wizards. Most were just spreading the secret of a magical world hidden beneath theirs, and others were involved in using magical items of their children in their lives or getting them to procure more for them. The worst breaches had the muggleborns using magic on their behalf for various benefits.
The lesson made Harry imagine what his Aunt Petunia would have done with magical fertilizer or his Uncle with anything that might coerce customers into closing larger sales at his job. Dudley would use prank products as a means of torture for weaker children in the neighborhood. As their assignment for the next class was brainstorming such situations, Harry was halfway done before Umbridge let them go for the day.
Saturday was more quidditch practice. Cedric was forcing them through drills and instructed them on how to play a half-pitch match. Since they still only had one keeper, he hovered at the posts as they all tried to score on him. Each set of chasers and beaters were attacking him and trying to unseat the others, with their captain only allied with whoever wasn't shooting at the goals. Harry was amazed at how Cedric could keep track of which team he was defending and which team he was working against as he called out plays to whoever he was currently working with and then ceased advising them as soon as the quaffle had a change of possession.
When they took a break, all the beaters got an earful from Cedric when he told them they should be attacking him as well any time their chasers were shooting at him.
"The best bet you have of scoring in a real game is when the keeper has to dodge instead of staying at the posts," he told them. "We are only using trainers, so you should have no reservations about hitting me or any of the other players out there."
Harry shared a look with Greg, Millicent, and Neville, and they all got back to playing.
Again, Harry was a bit awed at how well Cedric was able to keep track of the plays and when a bludger was aimed at him. He rarely moved more than a few inches to either side to avoid a strike, staying firmly rooted in his position, guarding whichever hoop he was currently guarding. Finally, the snitch appeared, and the game ended quickly, with Lyra grabbing it out of the air.
Cedric gathered them around afterward to discuss the practice.
"You all did well," he praised them. "We have two more weeks before the exhibition match the Harpies set up in Wye Valley. I don't expect it to be as one-sided as the game we played against the professionals, but it will be against a team with at least a few years of experience playing together and against more than just one real match."
"Do we have a strategy?" William asked.
"No," Cedric replied with a shrug. "We don't know enough about ourselves yet, and we don't know anything about them. That's why we are playing this match, to learn about how we play against a team that is made up of other children our age before we go up against Gryffindor. We will build our strategy from this game."
"What if I catch the snitch before we can figure anything out?" Lyra asked with a smirk.
"It's an exhibition match," Cedric told her with an eye roll. "We will be playing all day, enough time to rotate in all our players, and if a game ends too quickly, we will just start again. This isn't part of a tournament, and no one advances for winning, though at least one win would be nice," he told them hopefully.
After a few more questions from the other players, they returned to the common room to soak in the grotto. Whispers was trying to teach Silvy how to swim, but the kneazel was reluctant to get wet. She was eventually thrown in by the exasperated demiguise to learn that Silvy could swim instinctively and move quickly to enact her vengeance.
As Silvy hunted Whispers around the common room, Harry and Lyra decided to take their homework up to Ravenclaw to complete without needing to deal with silver animals jumping through the trees where they liked to work.
Arriving at the door with the eagle knocker, Harry almost bumped straight into it, as it didn't open on its own. After a second of waiting, he shrugged and used the knocker.
"Welcome to Ravenclaw Tower," the pleasant voice came from the eagle. "I look forward to seeing what you may accomplish this year. Though you must now answer a riddle to enter."
"What?" Lyra looked confused at such a direct statement from the knocker.
"A man has a fox, a chicken, and a bag of grain…" the knocker began
It took them nearly ten minutes to figure out the brain teaser presented to them and the knocker would only repeat the problem, not mentioning anything about its previous statement. The room was primarily filled with other Ravenclaws, with the usual assortment of other studious individuals from other houses taking advantage of the library or the smarter students in the house. Finding a spot at an empty table, they got to work on their assignments.
When everything was done and the ink had dried, Harry went to Hermione's shelf to pull Return of the King from the shelves. He had finished The Two Towers but hadn't gotten to the last book in The Lord of the Rings because of the mess with the Basilisk. Also, on Hermione's shelf was an empty spot with a note, "Coming soon - 'Martin the Warrior.'"
With a smile, Harry returned to the couch to read as Lyra continued with her assignment from Umbridge. He was nearly two chapters in when he felt the hair on his neck twitch slightly. He quickly glanced at his side and saw Penny, in her wolf form, curled up by the fireplace. Whoever was stalking him didn't feel malicious, but it was still stalking.
Harry reread the same page a few more times until he could feel the breath of the person behind him. Checking reflective surfaces near him, he saw the sparkly distortion resembling a disillusionment charm behind him. Quick as lightning, he reached behind him and grabbed the person by the shirt, throwing him over his shoulder and onto the ground in front of him with a terrified scream from the perpetrator. Nearly every student in the room turned to look as Harry slammed a now visible Rolf Scamander down onto the floor in front of his couch.
He was stunned into silence as Penny rushed over, shifting back into her human form, "Harry! What's going on?"
"He was sneaking up on me," Harry defended himself as Rolf stayed silent, still pinned to the ground by Harry's hand.
"Let him up," Penny said in a forceful tone. When he was standing, she asked him in the same voice, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I just wanted to see what he was reading," he said, looking ashamedly at his feet.
"You could have asked," Harry replied, holding up the book.
"I'm sorry," he said sadly and then ran off. He seemed to vanish again before he could even get around the corner.
Lyra joined Harry on the couch and got a retelling of what just happened before snatching the book from Harry and starting from the beginning again. They were right up to the end of the second chapter again when Lyra pointed out someone approaching them again, disillusioned.
When he was a few feet in front the couch, Harry just declared, "You're doing it again, Rolf. Do you want to join us?"
"How did you see me?" he replied, fading into full visibility. "No one sees me," he added with a touch of sadness.
"We live with a demiguise," Lyra explained, not wanting to reveal their secrets. "What you are doing isn't even close."
"What are you doing, anyway?" Harry asked. "It's not exactly disillusionment… and it's not invisibility."
Rolf looked embarrassed, "It's… it's not something I like to talk about."
Lyra looked even more interested and scooted over on the couch to make a spot between her and Harry. She patted it until Rolf sat with them.
"So… tell me," Lyra prompted him with a smile.
Rolf still looked a bit embarrassed but then laid his arm on the table, and it slowly shifted until it became the same color, and then so close that it appeared to vanish completely. No matter which side or from what angle Harry looked at the younger boy's arm, he knew he wouldn't be able to see it if he couldn't already see the Hidden.
"It's my family," Rolf told Lyra. "Everyone is amazing. Vovoh is Newt Scamander… THE Newt Scamander. Vovaw was a chief auror and a war hero. My dad wrestles trolls with his bare hands, and my mom… well, everyone looks at her… everyone…" he looked a bit ashamed at that statement.
"We went to all sorts of events, parties, and balls when I was younger," he continued. "Everyone wanted to talk to them. I was just there, in the background. One day, a few years ago, I just faded into the background," he sniffled a bit. "It just happens now; whenever I'm around other people, I just fade away."
Without prompting, Lyra gave him a big hug. His arm, which had still been blended into the surroundings, immediately snapped back to visibility. Rolf was a bit shocked but relaxed into the hug as Harry put his hand on the boy's back and rubbed it, not wanting to interrupt Lyra's moment.
Rolf's magic had granted him an ability like theirs from similar circumstances, not from needing to be hidden but from being ignored. Harry's anger at the situation started to bubble forth, breaking Rolf from the hug he shared with Lyra.
"It's not right," Harry told Rolf, feeling anger towards his new head of house. "They shouldn't ignore you like that."
"They don't!" Rolf defended his parents. "It just happened! When they saw it, they tried everything to stop it… but it kept happening. I can't stop it, and sometimes I don't even realize I've vanished until one of my family points it out."
Harry's anger fizzled a bit at his defense but stayed on edge. If they had been paying more attention to him, it wouldn't have happened to begin with.
They continued to talk for a while; Rolf told them about a few of the adventures he had been on with his parents; the most recent was to find an earth elemental. Elementals, apparently, were magical creatures that could manipulate specific elements in their environment outside of their own bodies. Lyra asked and clarified that firebirds did not count because their fire originated inside themselves. The one they were looking for was a Mud Eel. Despite the name, it was a mammal and had more in common with a mole than anything else - looking like a fat, thirty-foot-long eel with front legs and long claws. It made its home in vast, muddy swamps and would construct tunnels under the muddy water to live in. While it had long claws, the tunnels were constructed simply by moving the mud and earth with its magic and the claws were used for defending itself from predators.
Rolf started to fade a bit as he spoke about how his father had wrestled one in the mud that was half-grown. Lyra pinched his arm so he wouldn't disappear in the middle of the story. When he got done, Harry and Lyra told him a bit about the basilisk where he admitted that his father had told him that, under no circumstances, he would ever confront one without a rooster, and now the situation was made even more frightening that they all knew that roosters were useless.
As it got close to dinner, Hermione joined them. However, before they could introduce Rolf, he had vanished and was no longer sitting with them on the couch. After spotting him running off, they decided they would have to bring him into the light slowly. A quick look at his sister showed she was on the same page as him. They would give him his own legend so he wasn't part of someone else's.
"So when is Martin the Warrior coming?" Harry asked their friend.
"On my birthday…" Hermione groaned. "My parents told me I needed to wait, and they'd get me a hardcover copy."
"When is your birthday?" Lyra asked curiously.
"November 5th," Hermione began tapping her feet, thinking about it. "Two months! They have it now, and they're making me wait! 'Focus on the new school year,' they told me! I've got my classes, projects, and helmets, and they don't think I have time for a short story?"
"I'm guessing you'll just lock yourself in a room for the weekend to read when you get it?" Harry smirked.
"I've already told Professor Flitwick," Hermione smiled back, "He told me I need to get permission from all my other teachers of the days I want off…"
Following dinner, the Scamander students gathered back in the common room for Janaína to instruct them on the spell to walk on water. All the students were in clothes they could get wet except for Guryon, who was just lounging, fully dressed, in a chair to the side with Whispers, Dougal, and Silvy. Harry's vision of the two brave and bold adventurers had been slightly cracked by Rolf and his story, so he just looked to the two of them as professors… for now.
Janaína went into a long instruction about how the charm worked. The spell was cast on your footwear and would not work on bare feet. It could be used on sandals, socks, shoes, high heels, or anything else. It required forward momentum, so the moment you stopped moving, you would sink. Walking in circles works just fine, but going forward and backward wasn't.
She demonstrated the spell and showed what failures looked like. She also applied an advanced version of the spell, which gave her the appearance of ice skating on the not-ice-water in the grotto. When they finally got time to cast the spell, all the students failed spectacularly. Only Cedric and Patricia managed to get a few steps in before sinking. They continued to try, repeatedly, while Lyra dried them all off with a stamp of her staff in between attempts.
It was long past curfew before they had all mastered it well enough to cross the grotto completely. This drain on their collective magic caused nearly all of them to fall asleep in moments.