Chapter 9:

It was early October, and Dumbledore came to the decision that the Basilisk should be dealt with. While it might have once been used to defend the school, it was now instead a threat to the students.

Dumbledore included the Advanced Study Group in the planning. Only Harry Potter would go to the chamber, along with Dumbledore and Flitwick and the phoenix Fawkes. Harry Potter would have the sorting hat with him.

Some of the Advanced Study Group along with McGonagall would remain in the bathroom, to keep everyone else out and to send for help or render aid as needed. The group will also help build a set of glasses that result in only seeing a reflection, with an easy to close shutter. They also had some instant photography cameras, and some roosters. There was some debate as to whether the roosters could actually cause any harm to the basilisk.

We went to the bathroom inhabited by the ghost of Myrtle Warren. She asked "Why are you all here?" Harry Potter answered, "We are going to make sure that noone is ever going to be killed by the basilisk as you were, or we will die trying." She said, "Oh. If you don't survive it, you are welcome to stay here."

Harry said to the faucet with the snake symbol, (in parseltounge)"Open". The Dumbledore first went down the tube, and he cleaned the area, and verified that the Basilisk was not in view.

Then they got ready and Harry Potter said (in parseltounge)"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four." The next chamber opened, and the Basilisk appeared. It said (in parseltounge)"Who are you, I answer to the heir of Slytherin." Harry answered, (in parseltounge)"I am Harry Potter. He has been dead, as a wraith, for more than 7 years. Any claim he had as heir of Slytherin should now be passed to the next, which might be me." The basilisk said (in parseltounge)"If he comes back to life, I'll accept his claim before yours."

Harry Potter said "No." That was the signal for the others. While looking down, Dumbledore and Flitwick sent large blasting curses in the area of the basilisk's eyes. Fawkes followed up by attacking his eyes. The roosters were released, but whatever effect they had was not larger than the other attacks. The hat gave Harry the Sword of Griffindor. Dumbledore immobilized the basilisk with some sort of glue. Flitwick filled its mouth with some sort of strong foam. Dumbledore said "Go now" and Harry jumped on top of the basilisk and stabbed its brain.

When they were sure it was dead, they moved in with an organized recovery plan, to harvest the venom and hide and any other useful parts. Dumbledore said that a portion of the profits will go towards equipping the Advanced Study Group.

Next meeting we came up with a plan to spend a small part of our clubs share. We'd each get wand holsters. We'd each get basilisk armor. We'd get charms to make it invisible and comfortable. Mirrors for communication, and for our homes. Harry and Sirius already had a pair of communication mirrors. Also curse and poison detection invisible bracelets for all of us. Invisible holding bags, the same that Luna already had.

None of us could talk about any of this, due to the magical contracts, and no information about the recent action was going to be released anytime soon.

Halloween passed, without any incident. Several of us went to the Death Day ball held by the ghosts. We made sure to give our condolences to Harry Potter, and say we understood why he might not want to be at the celebration in the Great Hall.

I knew I could wait another few months, but I made my decision. I went up to Padma Patil, and said, "I just want to say that I very much like being your friend." and she completed my sentence by saying "but nothing more than a friend."

I went to Luna and said, "I already talked to Padma. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner in the room of requirement?" She said "Of course!", and we walked arm-in-arm there. When the door opened it was a duplicate of the 10 Forward cafe from Star Trek Next Generation, and had a selection of foods that seemed appealing from episodes of the show. As we were having the chocolate dessert, Luna said, "Next date, let's have Klingon food." Then we both said in unison "Gagh is best served live".

I told her, "Just so you know, creating the Star Trek timeline is not that important to me. I am with you because I want to be with you." I continued, "Besides, I don't see how it could effect our lives. Its not like a future Picard is going to send us phasors to the past. There is the Temporal Prime Directive and time cops. Also this planet cannot be contacted until it has Warp Drive technology, due to the Prime Directive."

Luna said, "How about we invent some of the technologies?"

At the next meeting of the Advanced Study Group, Luna and I did a joint presentation on some spells we had in development. I said, "This one we call "trabis", or phasor beam in English, it sends two red beams at slight angles, which will burn or vaporize the target. It is hard to dodge it."

Harry Potter asked, "Wouldn't 3 beams be better, so if they don't dodge the center one hits?" Luna answered, "A trident. An excellent weapon for one who will fight sea creatures." I reminded myself to ask Luna if the Tri-Wizard Tournament events were actually still going to happen like in canon. I added, "We can have 1, 2, and 3 beam versions, depending on the strength of the spell caster."

I continued, "We have another version called "stupefaciunt" which stuns. It is not a weaker version, but instead concentrates the energy towards light and disrupting the nervous system. It should knock someone out for a few minutes. More useful would be "stupefaciunt regio" which can stun an entire group. It would take a lot of power for this spell to work. Another one is "inspiratione", or photon torpedo in English. It sends a small ball of light, which travels behind or above the target, and then explodes with intense light energy to burn the target.

Dumbledore, who was present at the meeting, said, "I am glad you are following proper procedure. You can design the spell, but never test it. Only myself, Professor McGonagall, or Professor Flitwick can do that stage. Actually, Professor Snape is qualified also, but I do not think he'd help you. We will review the spells, for safety and help you with redesigns, until it is ready for us to test. You should know, that this is NEWT level work. Like everything done in this club, no points can be awarded."

Another meeting, we discussed how to identify if someone is missing memory. We had earlier discussed some general concepts, and Hermione Granger said she'll do a presentation. She said, "There is a muggle concept used for encryption, that is secret codes, where computation is possible in one direction, but impractical in the other. That could mean, that we memorize some numbers at a periodic bases. When we try to recall them, we could determine if any are missing, but not be able to restore the missing elements. I am still learning how this works, and might need to consult with a muggle university to work it out further. This method uses computers, devices that can calculate. My family's computer can do about 25 million calculations per second, and it cost about 2 thousand pounds, 2 years ago. That would be 400 galleons. In fact, with the mirror communication system, we could even ask for calculations to be run on that computer, although someone would have to learn programming.

Another area to look into would be building magical computers. I'll pass around this book, called Fundamentals of Computation. Computers do not have to be based on electricity. If a logic element can calculate from 2 inputs, and 1 output, either not-and, or not-or, any computer can be built. The challenge is to have thousands or millions of elements properly arranged, and to have the computations be very fast. The muggle computers were still useful in the earlier part of the 50 years that they had them, when they could only do thousands of calculations per second."

Hannah Abbott, in Hufflepuff, did the next presentation. "The reason why we are talking so much about protecting memory, is due to our professor Lockhart. There are indications, but no legal evidence, that he claimed credit for many of the events in his books, and wiped the memories of people who actually did what the books say. We need to keep alert for each other. Check if any of us appear forgetful or seem different. Something else to watch out for, is if one of us doesn't like Lockhart, but suddenly seems to like him, they could be influenced by a potion or charm. Also, remember that what he is alleged to do, is a crime, and the aurors can be called, if evidence exists."

The next meeting was organized by Harry Potter. We arrived in the room of requirement, and it looked like Diagon Alley. "This is going to be an exercise in group defense. Headmaster Dumbledore helped me set up a typical Death Eater raid. They arrive suddenly, often by apparating. They setup an anti-apparition zone. Then their go-to spell is the death spell. The simulation will remove you from the battle area if you are hit by a green beam. So, let us start. Some of us will be sitting at the ice cream tables, and some will be walking towards the tables from the direction of the bookshop."

Later Harry Potter showed us a video analysis of what each of us did and how we could improve. He began with another topic though, "Do you notice how they didn't aim any deadly attacks at me, and instead tried stunning and binding spells, and also how when they apparated away they tried to take me with them? Voldemort wants a grudge match with me, to publicly show that he can beat me, after what happened in 1981. He was my Defense instructor, and instead of trying to kill me, he tried to teach me. I think he wants me to be a worthy opponent, and then to have his Death Eaters bring me to him to face him in a public duel. He'll have to gain full control over a body first. However, the rest of you around me are in great danger at all times."

Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones jumped up and said, "We defend each other no matter what!", and everyone rose up to loudly agree.

At another meeting, where Dumbledore attended, Harry discussed the future of the Advanced Study Group. "We know that this group has to be kept secret and limited due to pre-war conditions. Hopefully eventually, it can be revealed. It has become clear that students can do far better than the normal curriculum, with a different method. It is not just a few prodigies, but a large group, and look at us. A first and second year (pointing at Luna and myself) doing Seventh year work. A second year (pointing at Hermione) not only years ahead in magical study, but studying muggle college level subjects and figuring out how to adapt them to magic. Two fourth years (pointing to the Weasley twins) doing charms work well in advance of almost any adult wizard. In dueling, we average 2 years above our year levels, and most of us have only been studying it for a year or so.

I am not saying that the entire school should be made to be at our pace. I'll use Ron Weasley as an example, who is not in our group. He is content to keep up with the curriculum and nothing beyond it, and there is nothing wrong with that. I've been encouraging him to aim for a professional Quidditch career, which is probably his greatest interest.

What should happen, after the secrecy can be ended, is an optional faster track for those students who both want to and have the aptitude for it. I think also, that a cross-houses group like this could and should be a permanent addition to the school."

Dumbledore answered, "It is my greatest hope, that we succeed and can end the secrecy, and that some day you, Harry Potter, will come back to Hogwarts to be Professor of Advanced Studies."

That evening, I told Luna that we need to protect her possessions. "In canon, you were bullied by this time. It hasn't happened now, I think because they can see the alert protectiveness by not only me, but also by Michael, Terry, and Anthony. I know that any possessions you care about are on your person in your hidden bag, and you are indifferent to what is in your trunk. However, if they stole from you, I would be honor bound to deal with it. It would be better if we could apply some good locking charms for now, and maybe I can get you a better trunk for Christmas." Luna smiled and replied, "My knight in invisible basilisk armour."

During Christmas break, my mother asked, "Is there anyone you are beginning to consider as a possible future Mrs. Picard?" I don't know how she knew. I answered, "I know who I'm going to marry, Luna Lovegood".

My father said, "I saw your sudden increase in maturity in the summer before starting Hogwarts, so I'm going to speak to you as an adult, and as the future head of house Picard. Our family statuses are very compatible. If anything we are slightly lower due to the lack of our manor."

I said, "This doesn't get told to anyone but us, but she has certain family magic seer abilities. She is aware of the situation of our manor and said that we will have a son who will become a master curse breaker, and that she'll help with her seer abilities and the manor will be fully restored without having to hire assistance. You might not believe in that prediction, but she does, and therefore our lack of a manor isn't an issue for her and probably also her father."

My father said, "I see. And that brings up a negative that should be thought about. Her father has a reputation that is eccentric, but on occasion his publication has a serious hard-hitting, and apparently true, article that makes enemies. Also, Luna is regarded as unconventional to say the least."

I said, "She does have a way of telling people about the future or hidden aspects of the present by saying things that sound crazy if you don't understand the context. I could say that I'd ask her to sound more conventional, but one does not marry someone to change them. I want her to be just as she wants to be."

When school started again, I said to Luna, "Lets have that Klingon food. How can we make Gagh?" Luna looked thoughtfully and replied, "Don't they always say it tastes like Chicken?" I asked the elves for some chicken, and transformed it into the correct shapes and then enchanted them, similar to how the chocolate frogs are made.

In the Room of Requirement, we were in a dining hall on a Klingon ship. I said, "I think this summer your father and my parents will invite each other for visits." Luna said, "They'll agree."

I said, "I was thinking that we should learn Klingon war songs. I don't know when it will come up, but we can be ready to suddenly sing it with great seriousness. Maybe also have Klingon uniforms and bat'leths."

Luna replied, "Not the bat'leths. You are going for intimidation. A wizard would see a large two handed edged weapon, and think, that he can cast a spell, and you don't even have your wand handy."

I said, "What about the voice changing spells we know, to sing a deep register, and a shock wave spell. Just enough to be noticeable, so when we sing the loud parts, they feel a subtle blast, and maybe a low, very bass drum sound?" Luna liked that idea, and said, "Yes, that would work well. Sort of like how when Draco walks with Crabbe and Goyle, people feel a little intimidated. They are not advanced in magic, but intimidate by looking like they'd be effective in a muggle fight."

I said, "I was keeping a low profile, outside of our secret groups, but I think now that we are together, I'd rather seem a little bit dangerous and unpredictable, and maybe a little unhinged. It could head off possible adversaries. Besides, I want to finally act my physical age and have fun with it." Luna replied, "You think I already do that." I said, "Except the intimidation part. I think that was something, in canon, that you could have handled better. Everyone should be afraid of what might happen if they mess with you, but on the other hand not be worried that you are a danger if they do not mess with you."

I added, "The problem with being intimidating, is that while some potential adversaries will be scared off, others will want to challenge." Luna agreed, "Dominance displays sometimes lead to fighting." I added. "So, we'd both better be able to handle real attacks if we go that route. At the least, we would need to keep a shield up while doing that display. Anyway, let's try the Gagh."

Luna said, "He's amused. He's planning."

I learned to understand exactly what Luna means when she gives a cryptic hint, and I yelled, "Ghuy'cha'!" I was thinking, why did I just yell in Klingon? I never even learned Klingon. I continued, "Where is he?", and saw Q sitting at another table dressed like a Klingon ship captain. I angrily said to him, "That would totally mess up the timeline. They wouldn't take us seriously as warriors, so we'd have to use visible magic to defend ourselves. That would change their whole societal development. And then when they finally meet human muggles, they'd assume that we are race of wizards, and if the Statute of Secrecy still exists then, it would be threatened."

Q was amused, and said, "Why are you two annoyingly responsible?" Luna answered, "Jean-Luc will be the same way." Q said, "Yes, but if he was sorted here, he'd be in Gryffindor. And continuing what I was talking about, Renee can be born up to the end of the year 2000. The timeline will still work, and she'll reveal to the world what she has done in the year that she turns 28."

He continued, "So no visit to the Klingons. I already gave both of you the Klingon language. You can have, for tonight only, the holodeck, running program (IKS Rotaran singing war song). You'll be unnoticeable. Feel free to say "Computer reverse 2 minutes", etc., to learn the songs better, and "Computer exit" when you are done. There is real Klingon food for you on the ship, and you already know a spell to later be able to duplicate it. It is a little appreciation gift."

I used my voice change spell and sounded like Data from Star Trek TNG, and used his mannerisms, "Query? It would seem that this universe means something to you." Q answered "Yes. After some millennia sometimes we need new challenges."

Later I told Luna, "We cannot let Dumbledore know about this, but we can show him our new language. I'd like to know if he can magically translate it. If not, we have a code we can use to talk to each other. Do you know what Renee will do?" Luna answered, "No, Uncle Q blocked me from seeing that."

Then I changed my voice to Leonard Nimoy's Spock, and said, "Do you agree that it would be logical for me to sometimes act illogically." Luna changed her appearance to a Vulcan and answered, "Logical, but sudden changes, without knowing the bounds of the new behaviour would make people uneasy." I exclaimed, "How did you do that?" Luna said, "Oh, these are physical objects that I transformed, and then I added makeup to hide the transition and also to cover and replace my eyebrows. I adapted it from something similar in an article in Teen Witch Weekly."

I asked, "You read that?" Luna answered, suddenly sounding business-like, "I have to keep track of what the competition writes. You'd be surprised at the segmented market overlaps between the Quibbler and Teen Witch Weekly."

Luna and I both met with Dumbledore. Luna said, "To answer your question from earlier, I like Ravenclaw a lot better than I did in canon." I explained, "In canon Luna was systematically bullied in Ravenclaw, having her things stolen, assignments destroyed, being locked out of common room. None of that has happened now." Dumbledore asked, "Was Professor Flitwick aware of this?" I answered, "I do not think so. Maybe prefects were. She never issued any complaints."

I said, "We both met with Q again, but we discussed issues that do not involve today's Earth, and I cannot share this one. However, I would like you to hear a new language we both know, and see if you can translate it." I continued in Klingon, and Luna answered in Klingon. Dumbledore said, "Not so far, please continue for a few minutes." He took out a device from a drawer, and cast some spells. Finally he said, "Nothing." I said, "Then we might use this as a probably secret communications method." Dumbledore asked, "Can you tell me if there are any other speakers of this language in today's Earth, as you put it?" I said, "No others, besides Q of course."

I switched topics, "I think I may have figured out why we haven't seen the diary horcrux yet. In canon, Arthur Weasley, led a new law, the Muggle Protection Act against dark objects, that led to raids against death eaters homes looking for forbidden objects. Lucius Malfoy then removed the diary from his home, but then introduced it to the school, with one intention being to remove you as headmaster after some deaths or petrifications. They would also send Hagrid to Azkaban without a trial. Riddle also tried to specifically get Harry Potter to rescue Ginny Weasley, as a trap, but I do not think that Lucius Malfoy could have known that would happen.

In our timeline, the Weasley's have been defamed, even though not formally charged, with harboring Pettigrew, who turned out to be a dangerous criminal. I think this has prevented the raids that otherwise happened."

We talked about Lockhart, but Dumbledore still did not approve of an entrapment mission. He also thought that Lockhart would not take the bait. He also said, that there will be some experts in the summer who will try to reverse the curse on the position of Defense Against Dark Arts. Meanwhile, the curse should get rid of Lockhart by the end of the year, one way or other.

It was late January, 1993, and I was trying to assess what changes I could see in the students compared to canon, at the same time, which would be the middle of book 2. The main character, Harry Potter, had a wider group of friends, which included everyone in the Advanced Study Group, but also Ron Weasley. He seemed to take a mentor role to Ron, trying to help him get past his jealousies. He convinced him that everyone does what they can with what they have, and tried to get him to see what he had and what he could improve. He helped encourage him to intensively train for, and then try out for Quidditch in his second year. Ron became a reserve player, and it looked like he might replace Oliver Wood as keeper when Oliver will graduate in a little over a year. Harry Potter, became the Gryffindor Quidditch seeker in his second year. The sequence that led him to being on the team in the first year, didn't happen.

Neville Longbottom became much more confident. Getting a wand that worked for him, and the advanced study we were doing, made him one of the better students, which changed the reputation he had as someone who could barely do magic.

Hermione Granger was no longer the only high achiever in her social circle. She learned, to intelligently debate and present evidence. She excelled in the Advanced Study Group. She and Harry Potter were often together.

Outside the group, Draco Malfoy stopped trying to annoy Harry Potter and the other Gryffindors, He could see the readiness for group defense and stopped all incitements. Actually, he started acting more like a Slytherin should, and seemed to be planning and biding his time, while being polite at all times. He seemed truly dangerous.

Professor Snape besides not being as openly hostile, actually started teaching potions instead of just posting instructions and insulting non-Slytherin students. Dumbledore didn't discuss Snape's spy work with me, so I had no idea what was going on there.

Dumbledore adapted to the way I was giving information and advising him. Since I emphatically stated early on that I was advising him but not trying to replace him, he reasserted leadership while still making those changes I could convince him of. He still seemed to be careful to never give me the impression that the bad Dumbledore fan theories were still true, and neither of us made an issue of whether they ever were true.

For Valentines day, those of us in the Advanced Study Group who had dates, decided to show off some magic. We silently, and for some of us, wandlessly, created tables for 2, for me and Luna, for Harry and Hermione, for Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott. Then there was a table for 4 with the Weasley twins and the Patil twins. I didn't even know who was dating who, although I was happy that Padma had a date. We all conjured chairs, placed settings, flowers, candles.

Professor Snape looked upset and was going over to us, probably to say we weren't allowed to add tables, but Dumbledore preempted him by complimenting us for our magic display and gave each of us a few points.