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Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 3: Relearning Magic
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 3: Relearning Magic
Thank you to my Beta’s; Sparky40sw, Donalddeutsch and Kat Armstrong.
"Ok, levitation, right…WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" swish and flick.
Nothing happened. The seashell Harry was trying to levitate just remained resolute.
"What happened, Professor?" he asked with concern.
"You need to open up your magic reserve to let some out," the Professor said. "Try the exercises that we have been practicing and let the magic free."
"Ok," Harry prepared, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" swish and flick.
The seashell that Harry had his wand pointed at suddenly disappeared followed by a loud bang.
"Where did it go?" Harry asked, looking around the floor.
The professor looked around, amused. He looked up at the ceiling of the great hall and the twinkle in his eye burned with a new vigor.
"Harry," the Professor said with ill-concealed mirth in his voice, "perhaps you should try that again with a little less power. Look up."
Harry looked at the ceiling and snickered. In the ceiling above their heads there was a perfect impression of a seashell in the stone. It was noticeable if you looked at the right spot on the charmed ceiling. It looked as if a hole had been shattered through the daytime sky, leaving a bit of the stone ceiling to show through.
"Oh, sorry about the ceiling, sir," Harry apologized.
"That is quite alright, Harry," the Professor said, still looking at the mark in the stone ceiling. "This will give you a chance to research and perform some advanced charms this summer. I am afraid that you will need to do most of the research yourself as in my time here the charm on the ceiling has not needed to be repaired. I will help you perform the charm if you wish."
"Thanks," Harry said, feeling it a proper punishment. "What do you want me to do about the actual ceiling? I seem to have damaged it."
"I think I like it," the Professor said. "It adds the little bit of flare. Besides, only you and I will be aware of its presence."
As promised, Harry learned fast. After just a week at Hogwarts over the summer, Harry was able to control his magic level with spells through third year. Tomorrow would find him starting independent study as Professor Dumbledore had Order business to attend to, as well as a few days of his official duties at the Wizengamot. This just left one bombshell for the professor to drop.
"Harry," the Professor said, "I think that this is the appropriate time to let you know about your godfather’s will."
Harry swallowed, "His will?"
"Yes," the Professor confirmed, "Sirius named me executor of his will. Are you ready to hear his wishes?"
Harry felt the grief and guilt rise and visibly calmed himself. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Okay," Harry gathered himself, "I think that we should just get it over with."
"Well, I think it is best if you know what my instructions from him are as executor," the Professor started. "He told me to make sure that the beneficiaries accepted their inheritance in honor of him. Harry, he would consider it an honor if you and his other heirs will take what he has to give with grace."
Harry sniffled. The entire business of his godfather’s death had been pushed out of his mind for the past week and a half with the searing pain of uncontrolled power. Harry once again steeled himself for the news.
"I’ll try, sir," Harry stated.
"Very well, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said. "His wishes are as follows. He has given the Weasley Family ten thousand galleons per child and fifty thousand galleons for Arthur and Molly."
"That was nice of him," Harry said. "I hope that they accept it."
"They already have," the Professor said. "I was instructed to not take no for an answer and they respected the wishes of a deceased man. Although I don’t think that you will notice much change around the Burrow, as they already live the life that they enjoy."
"I think you’re right, professor," Harry said with a smile.
The Professor continued, "Next he has given each of the order members five thousand galleons to, and I quote, ‘aid them in removing that bastard Riddle and his Death Munchers from this earth.’"
"That sounds like Sirius," Harry said with a sad smile.
"Next, he gave Remus Lupin one-hundred thousand galleons and Number 12 Grimmauld Place."
"Sir, off on a tangent here," Harry interrupted, "I have never heard what an average salary for a wizard is. How long can Remus’s money last him?"
"Well, the average wizard, say a defense teacher," the Professor said, as if the salary was the foremost on his mind, "makes about five thousand galleons a year. That sum that you gave the twins was quite enough to get a good business started for them. Remus will be able to live without trouble for the rest of his life without any monetary concerns."
"I am glad, sir," Harry affirmed. "Being a werewolf is hard on him. He is too honorable to take the kind of underhanded jobs that can be found as a werewolf and I have heard that little else is available."
"Lastly," Dumbledore said, looking over his glasses in a serious manner, "he has left you the remainder of his inheritance. He has left you more than ten million galleons that the Black family has built up over the generations."
"Oh, no sir, I can’t…" Harry started to object.
"You can and you will," Dumbledore said quite firmly. "It has already been done. Don’t forget my instructions. You have to take it to honor him."
"Oh," Harry conceded. "Well, if…okay, sir. I guess that you are right."
"He had instructions for you as well," the Professor said. "He made me memorize what he wanted for you, more than the money, but what he wants done with it. He wants you to spend a good portion of the money. As he instructed, you should spend the first million before you leave school. He knew that you would need a house once you finished Hogwarts and that could help with that. He also wants you to quote ‘burn all of those elephant clothes that those no good muggles gave you.’ I quite agree with him here. It would amaze you how good it can make you feel to have some nice clothes in your wardrobe. I might suggest asking Miss Ginevra Weasley to assist you in this. You might enjoy it more."
Harry blushed and sputtered a bit. He was unsure of when it happened, but he had started to think of the fiery redhead at random times and finding himself attracted.
"Harry," the Professor counseled, "just don’t forget that being a Gryffindor is about more than facing down Voldemort, you have to be brave in front of females as well."
Harry blushed more at this statement. How did the professor know about his attraction to Ginny? Damned intuitive Headmaster.
"The last of the instructions in the will are that you need to…what did he say," the Professor pondered, "…oh yes, ‘find the fun’ and your inheritance will help. He said, and I quote again, ’leave your mark on that school’. Now as headmaster I must interject here, don’t hurt my school," he pleaded, "I am rather fond of it, just let me know if you are going to do anything permanent to it."
"Of course, sir," Harry said. "I have no idea what he would have me do to leave my mark."
"That is the clincher," the Professor said. "Do what you want to do. These instructions are just suggestions and are not binding. The money is yours to do with as you please."
Harry thought about this. He would like to do something to the school to honor the Marauders, something that the pranksters would be proud of. What ever it is should be a surprise.
"Ok, sir. I’ll think about it," Harry said.
"The library has more books than spell books and potion manuals," the Professor said in a fit of careless helpfulness. "Avail yourself of the other sections and I believe that you may learn a bit about the castle itself that should help you."
"Sir?" Harry asked quizzically, "why, as headmaster, are you giving me suggestions to help me modify your school?"
"Harry, I trust you," the Headmaster said. "This school gets to be a giant rut without some changes over the years, and maybe by pointing you in the right direction you may improve the school instead of performing a portal charm on all of the dungeon lavatories, as your father and Serius spent a better portion of their sixth year doing."
"Ok, I will try not to disappoint you, sir," Harry said with a chuckle.
"I am sure you will do a good job," the Headmaster said. "And Harry, while we are on the subject of inheritance, you should know that the sum in your current vault that your parents set aside for you was just your schooling allowance. "
"It was?" Harry asked, amazed. "I barely scratched it."
"Yes, well you seem to be a very conservative spender," the Headmaster assessed. "Perhaps you can loosen the purse strings and enjoy your money, because, when you become a legal adult, you will receive notification of the opening of the Potter vault, which will be a considerable event indeed. I don’t have any idea how much money you have but the Potters were a very old and moneyed family."
"I hope that that turns out to be a good thing," Harry said with a bit of anxiety and anticipation.
Over the next week, Harry spent a good amount of time in the library learning new spells and practicing the control of his magic. He happened across a tome of useful spells that were not taught to students for some reason. It was full of cleaning spells and that packing spell that Tonks used last year. There was a spell that would leave you perfectly clean after flooing, a definite necessity. Harry found the spell used by Molly Weasley to clean the dishes and the spells to cook food and chop and peel vegetables.
"These may not be manly spells, but if I need to live on my own, I’ll rather need them," he said to himself.
Harry finally found the tome in the restricted section that dealt with the construction of the castle and all of its enchantments. He quickly looked up the part about the great hall and found that the spell used would not repair a fault, only cast a complete ceiling. Harry was unsure if he were ready for a whole ceiling so he tabled that for a later consideration.
Harry would need a place to practice the spell if he were to do it. The ceiling of the Great hall was too precious to get wrong.
Another section of the book had the spells to carve statues, to change rock from one type to another, to polish stone and to create rooms in the stone bedrock that the castle was standing on. This gave Harry an idea. The Chamber of Secrets must have been carved out of solid stone just as this described. So that would be how the Chamber was made without the rest of the founders finding out about it. Harry needed a place to practice controlling his full power and the Chamber would be perfect for keeping the rest of the students safe and ignorant of his work.
"Hello, Harry," Dumbledore greeted him.
"Hello, Professor," Harry greeted him. "How was your week?"
"It has been enlightening," the Professor said. "The order has been trying to assess what Riddle has been doing since the department of mysteries. So far all we can discover is that he is lying low. Apparently sitting in your mind for even as little time as he did had a detrimental effect on him. He has not been active outside of his lair. I found this piece of intelligence very heartening for our cause. It would seem that Voldemort would think twice before attempting to cohabitate in your mind. Certainly good news if our assumptions are correct."
"Could he be waiting to see if the Minister will start to ignore his return again?" Harry asked. "Lulling the ministry into a sense of comfort?"
"Excellent point," the Headmaster said, "perhaps it is a combination of the two. Now, what have you been working on in the past week?"
"Well, I learned a good collection of household spells and other things that I will need to know when I buy my own house," Harry said.
The Headmaster responded with a poignant, "Pardon me if I find it a little bit sad that a fifteen year old young man has to think about buying his first house and living on his own."
"Well, this has me in a better mood than the thought of having to return to the abuse of the Dursleys," Harry said, a bit more upbeat than his companion. "Living alone will be a lot more pleasant than living with people that hate every fiber of your being."
"I can understand that," the Headmaster said. "Have you contemplated where you would like to live?"
"I wanted to see what is available near the Weasleys," Harry said. "They are the closest thing to a feeling of family that I have had. Maybe I can find some empty land next to theirs."
"That would be a good thing," Dumbledore said. "With your help we could expand the wards around their house to include a neighboring property."
"That is a good idea," Harry said. "I wanted to learn warding and other protection spells. It doesn’t seem to be on the curriculum for Hogwarts."
"That would be a good thing for you to learn. It may not be in the curriculum but it is in the library if you wish to look it up. I will help you with technique on any warding spell that you find. I will also teach you the specific spells that are in use on the Weasley’s when the time comes if you are able to secure a house next to them. But also consider, your father’s family was, as I said, well off. I am not familiar with all of the Potter properties, but you may want to check into them as well."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said. "I’ll have to think about that."
"In your time in the library, did you learn anything else or find any other interesting text?" the Professor asked.
"Yeah," Harry said, "I found a book in the Restricted Section that detailed how they built the castle and all of the spells and so forth that the founders and headmasters have used to maintain and protect this castle."
"Ah, yes, I know that book," the Headmaster said. "Very informative. Please make sure that it is always returned to the same shelf that you found it at. It has no title and cannot be marked. One of the methods that the founders used to protect its secrets."
"Why does it have to be so protected?" Harry asked.
"The secrets about this castle’s construction can also be the secret to its destruction either by accident or on purpose," the Headmaster informed him. "Be careful with what you use it for. It can be dangerous."
"Speaking of which," Harry segued. "It reminded me about the chamber of secrets and it must have been how it was constructed without anyone knowing. I want to go back down there and see what shape it is in after these years."
"That sounds acceptable," the Headmaster said. "What do you think that you want to do with it?"
"When school resumes," Harry said, "I’m going to need a place to practice my power without anyone knowing and without endangering others. That seemed like the best place to use."
"It could indeed be a good place," the Headmaster agreed. "I have a feeling that it was already magically strengthened when Salazar built it. It is admirable that you would consider using it after the horror of what you went through the last time that you entered it."
"I have faced the horrors of near death in so many places around this school that if I shied away from every place that was traumatic for me, I would have to move to America," Harry joked. "With how my luck goes, I would end up being a Gypsy, slowly moving across the world with fewer and fewer places available to live."
"Quite true," the Headmaster said, appreciating the levity of the statement.