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Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 33: Tea and Association
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 33: Tea and Association
Thank you to my Betas Cateagle and Sparky40sw.
"Why’re we here?" whined Ron. "I already finished my homework." He paused. He continued quietly with a deep, reverberating voice, "Hmm, can’t we go someplace else?" he whispered seductively in Hermione’s ear, "Somewhere more private?" The soft breath on Hermione’s ear made her shiver and the suggestive nature of ‘somewhere more private’ made her flush, but not bend.
"No Ron," she said authoritatively as they approached. "It’s because of that silly prank war of you and your brothers that this happened. Now we will help to repair it."
"You just want to know how the room works!" he accused.
"Never mind that, Ronald!" she responded.
"Hey," Ron greeted ,Harry and Ginny who sat behind a large study table near the back of the library, ignoring Hermione’s last.
"Hey," they answered in unison.
"Hello," said Hermione in her usual, slightly more formal tone. "How can we help?"
Harry smiled at Hermione. "I have a treat for you."
Hermione perked up, her eyes smiling. While she was more attracted to and was indeed dating Ron, her redhead male best friend, her wildly black-haired male best friend always knew what would make her happy and tried to provide it for her, as a friend. That’s just how Harry was. Her Ron was just wired a little differently. He made her happy, deliriously happy, but Ron’s motivations were never as fully selfless.
"Whatcha got?" asked Hermione while she bounced slightly in excitement, personifying the bubbly schoolgirl image that she abhorred.
Harry pulled a large tome from under the one he was currently studying. It was red and the cover was carved in intricate patterns, resulting in a stylized Hogwarts castle etched in the leather cover.
"This," Harry said, patting the cover, "is the construction and enchanting notes from the Founders for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Hermione’s jaw dropped. Her eyes bugged to saucers, white showing completely around the iris.
"This…this is…this is…" stammered Hermione.
"Yes, the instruction manual for building Hogwarts," said Ginny.
"But…but…it’s…" continued Hermione, still amazingly dumbstruck.
"Old?"
"Valuable?"
"Red?"
"Heavy?"
"Big?"
"Too big?"
"Not nearly big enough?"
"Not supposed to exist," Hermione said finally. "It’s mentioned in the first three editions of ‘Hogwarts: A History’, but even in the first edition it was said to be lost for all time."
"Apparently not," said Harry. "Well, while you skim it, would you see if it mentions the Room of Requirement or the ‘Come and Go Room’?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, Harry," she said, even more excited than before as she lifted the book and clutched it to her chest. "I’ll, uh…" Hermione blushed, glancing nervously from side to side, "…I’ll just be in my study spot." She motioned with her head to the corner hidden from their view by several tall shelves of books.
She squeaked in delight before scampering off in a hurry to explore the book’s depths. Harry could only hope that she would try to find the section on the Room of Requirements and tell them before she became fully engrossed in the book. If she started to read from the beginning first, she wouldn’t emerge coherent to the outside world until the book was finished.
"I hope you know that you just lost me my girlfriend until Wednesday, at least," Ron stated. His manner was, thankfully, more aggrieved than angry.
"Just be glad that I didn’t show her where I found it," Harry said.
There was a pause of a second before Harry and Ginny burst into laughter, followed closely by Ron. They quickly quieted at a look from Madame Pince.
During lunch on Sunday, Harry and Ginny received an invitation to tea with Professor McGonagall. Harry apologized to Ron and Hermione that they wouldn’t be able to help in the library that afternoon while the search for the repair of the Room of Requirements continued. Hermione, her face still in the most ancient of tomes mentioned earlier, just waved off the apology with a muttered ‘no problem’, her nose never straying from the book. Ron simply gave a glare saying that he knew why Harry said he was sorry, as this would leave Ron virtually alone, a bibliophileological widower. His love lost to a book, and not for the last time, Ron sighed at fate.
As four o’clock struck, Ginny knocked genteelly on Professor McGonagall’s office door. It opened with a contented sigh from the door. Harry looked at Ginny with a crooked eyebrow but she just shrugged and walked in holding his hand while he carried two portfolios in his other hand.
"Hello, Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter," they were greeted by the ever businesslike professor.
"Hello, Professor," Ginny returned.
"Please sit," the Professor commanded as she led them to the small fireplace surrounded by an intimate grouping of a chair and a small couch.
"How are you progressing on your animagus studies?" McGonagall asked with a twinkle of interest in her eye.
"Very well, Professor," Ginny said.
Harry reached forward with the two portfolios, setting them side-by-side on the coffee table. The Professor opened each and looked carefully through the contents making pleased sounds at what she saw.
"This is very good work from both of you," she said. "It’s clear that you will both be successful in you transformations. Have you figures out which details you need to sketch out before you will be ready to complete the process?"
"No, Professor," answered Harry. "We saw, in the manual, that spell for helping us along, but we weren’t sure how to do it, and with your warnings about this area of magic, we were going to wait until we were further along to tackle it."
Ginny nodded her agreement. The animagus transformation was not the safest thing to learn. If you just winged it, you could cause yourself damage both mentally and physically.
"Very good, Mr. Potter," the Professor said proudly. "Twenty points to Gryffindor for both of you following safety instructions."
Harry and Ginny smiled.
"If you would like, I can teach you the spell necessary to check for what is yet lacking for a successful transformation," the aging professor offered.
Ginny eagerly agreed with a nod, while Harry politely requested, "Please."
Professor McGonagall led them through the wand movements for casting the Animus Progressa spell. The wand movement was a bit tricky, as you had to end with your wand pointed directly at your breastbone, causing the question, "Can we just perform this spell on each other?"
"No," Professor McGonagall answered. "It must be performed on one’s self."
Harry looked disappointed. Ginny just smiled at him, smugly. Of course, she would have asked if he hadn’t, but that didn’t need to be known.
"Okay," Professor McGonagall said as the images on the two individual parchments resolved into something that she could interpret. "It appears, Miss Weasley, that you need to work on your form’s internal organs. Concentrate on the liver, lungs and kidneys. Overall, excellent grasp of your form’s physiology."
Ginny beamed. Praise from a respected teacher was like gold to a student.
Harry looked on, perplexed. "Professor, how can you tell what that," Harry gestured to the parchment filled with shades and shadows, "means."
"Years of practice," she answered. "I am told that it is much like a Muggle doctor learning to interpret their diagnostic devices used to tell if a bone is broke in a patient. There are reference books that assist in the interpretation if you do not have an experienced person at hand."
"Oh," Harry blinked. "You mean x-rays?"
Ginny looked on without comment, as she had no experience with Muggle healing techniques, beyond viewing her father’s experiment with Muggle stitches after being attacked by a snake last year.
"Yes, I believe so," McGonagall confirmed. "Now, Mister Potter, it seems that you have a good grasp on the internals but you need to work on the base of the tail, the right fore paw and the ears. Pay closer attention to the detail of the hairs inside the dish of the ear."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said.
"You both are doing remarkably well. I would have never guessed that having two students work in partnership through the transformation would speed it so nicely."
Harry glanced at Ginny with a smile on his face, twinkling from his eyes. He looked at his Transfiguration Professor, shining his smile at her happy face. "It’s down to you, Professor. The Marauders worked together, but it still took them a couple of years. So, thank you for your help, Professor."
"Any time, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall smiled with satisfaction.
"While the Room of Requirement is out of operation," Ginny heard Harry say. He turned to her and smiled with what she thought was pride in her. She smiled shyly and chose to examine her shoes in embarrassment. "We will be using the Great Hall with the Headmaster’s permission. This means that we will have to be strict in our clean-up times and all students must assist with repairing and cleaning charms to remove any marks from stray spells. The walls are warded to prevent anything but minor damage, but I promised Professor Dumbledore that we would leave the Great Hall in its former shape."
Harry paused for the smattering of giggles from the students.
"But, please," he continued, "avoid aiming high, as the ceiling is much harder to re-enchant than the walls are to repair."
Everyone glanced up at the illusion of an evening sky momentarily before returning to Harry their attention.
"Now, while we study the next topic, Auror and Professor Tonks has agreed to assist everyone in something that she learned in her three years of Auror training." He smiled and nodded at Tonks, now in her Auror robes. "As an integral part of auror training, each recruit is taught a much wider catalogue of curses and hexes. The method used is through spell grouping."
Harry waved his wand at the south wall causing concise white signs with clear black lettering to reveal themselves up and down the length of the wall. Listed in many dozens of columns were spell titles, some columns with as few as three listings, some with as many as twenty. No other information was given besides yellow and red stars by more and more spells as the list went to the right and clustered at the bottom.
"This list of combat spells," Harry addressed the Defense Association, "is organized into groups of spell effect. If you look at the spells at the top of each column, you will probably see ones that you already know except for the last couple of columns on the right. These columns are spells that have little use in society, good for only death and devastation. I hope that none of you ever need to learn any of those spells."
Tonks stepped to the front as Harry took a step back, giving her the floor. "On this list you will notice many spells marked with a colored star. These spells are considered either restricted or downright illegal. Do not perform the yellow starred spells outside of this regulated schooling environment or you will be arrested and have to justify your actions before the entire Wizengamot as an accused on trial. That would be unpleasant," she smirked. "The red starred spells are not just restricted; they are downright illegal. If you are found to have performed these spells without written permit from the Minister of Magic, you will be sent to Azkaban for a lengthy stay, maybe for the rest of your life."
The students looked nervous at this information. "Why are you teaching them to us then?" Michael Conner asked.
"We are showing them to you, Mr. Conner," Harry said with a tinge of annoyance, "not teaching them to you. If you are in a fight for your life with a death eater, they will most likely be using one of the spells with a star of some sort of color and it is necessary to be familiar with your opponents’ arsenal to improve your chance of survival. I sincerely hope that you will all be able to use an unrestricted spell and win against the dark side. Remember, to resort to a restricted spell is to exhibit a lack of imagination."
"But they’re trying to kill us!" a seventh year at the front said loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Yes," said Hermione from her place at the opposite side of the front of the crowd. "But you can kill just as effectively with a good bludgeoning spell or a well aimed cutting curse, if that’s what you need to do."
"Yes, people," Harry said, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the murmuring voices. "We’re not asking that you stun and arrest here. If you need to kill to save lives, then it may be the right thing to do. In a decision between the life of a Deatheater or his innocent victim, choose the innocent."
"Could you?" asked a girl a couple of rows back. She looked young, maybe a fourth year.
Harry ran his hands through his hair, clearly nervous and searching his soul. "Oh, man…this is a conversation that I was hoping to avoid having with myself, much less with fellow students, but…" he took a great breath and let it out slowly through pursed lips. "If it was someone I cared about, or, I guess, someone innocent in all this, I guess that I would. I couldn’t let them die," he stared at the floor stone six feet in front of him. "Someone once accused me of having a ‘saving people thing’. I think that they were spot on. I wouldn’t stand back when I could help. I guess that I would just deal with the ramifications after it was all done."
Hermione blushed from her position in the hall, but didn’t comment on being quoted.
The crowd visibly bristled at Harry’s comment on ramifications. "Surely the ministry wouldn’t arrest you for killing a Deatheater in self-defense!"
Harry laughed. "Arrest me for self-defense?" Harry said sarcastically. "Of course they would! Minister Fudge would insist on it. I might make it out of conviction, but you can never be sure. Whatever the consequences, it would be worth it. But what I was really referring to was that, until you can come to grips with what you did, no matter what kind of scum you killed or who you saved, your mind will torture yourself with nightmares of guilt and regret. The shakes and the nightmares will eventually go away, along with the guilt after you’ve had some thought and support from people that care about you."
Harry smiled at his friends, knowing that they were responsible for him feeling better after the rocky start of the summer when he was doing just as he said and torturing himself with guilt ridden nightmares, only brushed away with comforting and reaffirming letters from his friends and compatriots within this room. He looked into each of their eyes, written plainly with love, friendship, strength, kindness, intelligence, desire (!), and dreaminess. His friends would keep him safe and whole through the tests his life and fate would provide.
Harry took a cleansing breath. "Okay," he said, deliberately chipper. "Enough of that maudlin stuff. We need to wrap up this session so that dinner can be laid on. Next session we will begin to learn the spells a step down from basic on the lists. I want you to practice what you already know from the lists. Do avoid the last columns of spells; they are dangerous, not only for your opponent, but also for your own soul. They’ll eat at you and should be avoided," he said with all seriousness. "Everyone should pick up a book at the back of the hall," he gestured to a stack of leather bound books, nearly identical to the book Harry was given be the Headmaster. "These are copies of a book that the Headmaster gave me; I found it so useful, I ordered enough for everyone. These are all spelled to only reveal their content to Defense Association members, so do be careful with your copy. If someone else finds them they could think them useless trash and you could lose yours. Anything that you learn from this book will be part of your learning with the Defense Association. If you need any help, the library is an excellent resource or you can ask Professor Tonks or myself. Remember, this book," he said, holding up his own copy, "contains listing of darker spells as well as regular ones. Anything that you see on the board with a star, your books have only the listing, not the instructions. If you look anything up in the library and you don’t find it in the regular sections, come ask. It might mean that it is in the Restricted Section due to being dark or exceedingly dangerous, or it may just be older or more obscure than you can easily find in the Hogwarts library."
Hermione stepped to the front and turned to address the students at Harry’s nod. "Okay, everyone! Clean this place up. Younger students, patrol for trash and older students, work together to levitate the house tables back into position. Trash patrol, don’t forget Evanesco, but be careful of your aim."
Draco sat at his makeshift dining table and chair in the Slytherin common room, angrily grumbling to himself. He was humiliated and he knew just who was to blame. His thoughts had turned increasingly angry and violent since he had been given his punishment. The whole of Slytherin knew he had been caught and punished. The continued humiliation took the power that he lorded over the lesser Slytherins from his grasp. He was the Slytherin Prince no longer. His voice raised above a grumble when he came to a decision.
"It’s down to that redhead bitch!" he roared. "If she wasn’t such a muggle-loving bint, I would’ve just been able to have some fun and toss the mudblood to the side like the last one. But no!" he screamed, "She had to come along and bring the Professors," he spat. "Well, I’ll show her. She won’t survive this year and the Dark Lord will reward me for removing another blood traitor from the world," he screamed to the rafters.
In the shadow of the entrance to the common room, a young woman decided that she didn’t need to get her new hairpin from her trunk to show off to her friends. She decided, instead, that she needed to warn her favorite teacher instead. She knew that he wasn’t a professor, but he was her teacher and a threat against him and his was a threat against her.