Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! It’s time for Yule Break and Harry returns home for the holidays. Our young Spellcaster is always working on something though, and the holidays don’t fully stop him. Upon returning to Hogwarts, he notices a situation and steps in.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So, without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 7 – Yule Break, Insight, Neville

“I’ll see you back at Hogwarts, Hermione.” Harry smiled at his bushy-haired friend as they stood on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

“Have a Merry Christmas, Harry.” Hermione smiled as she hugged him.

“Look for Hedwig bringing you gift.” Harry returned her hug with a grin. The two separated and Hermione headed through the barrier and back into King’s Cross Station to meet her parents.

“Aww, my ickle Harrikins is growing up.” Tonks teased as she pretended to wipe her eyes of tears.

“Already have a girlfriend, Harry?” Sirius chortled good-naturedly at his godson. “I wasn’t planning to impart my many years of wisdom to you until your Third Year.”

“It’s not like that.” Harry waved both of them off with a flat look.

“Sure it’s not…” Tonks drew out the end of her sentence before laughing.

“Let’s get home,” Sirius was chuckling at the back and forth between the two. “Andromeda and Ted have missed you, Harry.” The trio headed for the Floo at the end of the platform. After a wait in a short line, the three returned home in a flash of green flames.

-Black Family Home-

“Harry, it’s so good to see you again.” Andromeda had Harry in a warm hug almost as soon as he’d removed the soot from his robes.

“It’s good to see you too, Auntie.” Harry hugged the woman back.

“Having fun at Hogwarts, Harry?” Ted asked as he gave the youngster a one-armed hug.

“It’s kinda boring, honestly.” Harry shrugged and everyone got a chuckle at his reaction. “The castle is really interesting though. The library is also amazing.”

“Nerd~” Tonks laughed and Harry rolled his eyes at the Metamorphmagus.

“Yes, yes, I’m a nerd.” Harry flicked his finger and Tonks suddenly found herself hit in the back of the head with one of the couch cushions. “But I’m also the only one that can teach you the Wandless Magic that you’re so interested in, Nym.”

“You’re going to get it now, Harry!” Tonks lunged for him, but Harry was already rushing off with a satisfied grin. The now orange-haired teen chased after him with threats of noogies if he kept resisting.

“I swear, those two will always be like this.” Andromeda shook her head fondly at her daughter and surrogate nephew.

“It’s fine, dear.” Ted chuckled along with Sirius as they heard Tonks calling Harry a cheater for using Magic.

-Saturday ~ December 20th-

“Are you sure you want to do this, Nym?” Harry grinned at his surrogate big sister.

“Yep, you’re going down this time, Harrikins!” Tonks brandished her wand and got into a ready stance.

“You do remember that you’ve never won before, right?” Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

“Shush!” Tonks glared playfully at him. “When I win, you’ll have to teach me more Wandless Magic, the Real Stuff too! No tricks!”

“Don’t you mean if you win?” Harry snickered at the purple-haired young woman.

“Shush!” Tonks stuck her tongue out at him this time.

The two were out in the backyard of the Black Family home in a space that they’d completely cleared of snow. Sirius, Andromeda, Ted, and even Remus were watching from comfortable chairs off to the side. The whole area surrounded in a Heat Charm that made it a pleasant 21 Celsius. Sirius, ever the showman, stood up from his chair and decided to start the little match between Harry and Nymphadora.

“As the Lord of the Black Family, I hereby declare that this Duel may begin!” Sirius had the most over-the-top pompous voice he could manage as he made his ‘declaration’. Much to the chuckling of Ted and Andromeda’s exasperation with her cousin.

“Conteram Obice!” Tonks cast with her wand. A spiraling spell made of orange and gold sparks rocketed towards Harry.

For his part, Harry merely raised a Barrier in the shape of a square wall between himself and the incoming spell. With his defense against the spell taken care of, he reached out to the snow at the edge of the area with his Magic. The white powder was pulled closer and began to twist into shapes following his will.

Tonks’ spell slammed into the Barrier and ground against it for a moment. It invariably failed as it spiraled across the wall-like shield. It left a spiral-patterned mark on the Barrier for a second though. Harry finished his Transfiguration and Charms and sent his snow creations towards Tonks.

“That was a Shield Breaker! How is your Barrier just fine?” Tonks grimaced at the spell that had invalidated her own. She wasn’t given an answer as a swarm of snow beasts rushed her. She saw wolves, bears, rabbits, a moose, and birds, all made from snow charging her.

“Barrier doesn’t let any Magic through, Nym.” Harry reminded her. “Even if that Magic is supposed to destroy it.”

“How the hell does that work?!” Tonks swished her wand and the wolves burst back into snowflakes. A few loops and a strong point blew apart the bears and the moose.

“It’s basically priority of effects.” Harry grinned, knowing that Tonks wouldn’t understand the concept since it wasn’t taught at Hogwarts. He wove his Magic into more of the snow around them and subtly shaped it to his liking.

“The hell does that mean?!” Tonks demanded as she cast a Protego and the snow-made birds slammed into it like snowballs. A wide swipe of her wand and a wall of flames burst into existence, destroying the rabbits instantly form the heat.

“Don’t worry about it.” Harry chuckled as he pointed behind her. “Worry about the dragon.”

“What?” Tonks looked over her shoulder after casting a Protego between her and Harry. He wasn’t above tricking her and using a distraction to his advantage. But he wasn’t kidding this time. Behind her was a large dragon made from snow. It wasn’t overly realistic, looking more like a simple snow sculpture, but it was very much life-sized. “Why did you make a dragon?!”

“It’s more fun than just throwing an avalanche at you.” Harry replied with a shrug and a wide smile.

“Sol Calor!” Tonks waved her wand, flicked it, and then made a large circle. Just as the large snow dragon descended on her a bright ball appeared from the tip of Tonks’ wand. It was like a miniature sun and let off a large amount of heat. So much so that the snow rapidly melted. The dragon fell apart as its medium (the snow) was destroyed and the Charm that animated it broke because of the destruction.

“Next up!” Harry laughed as he had fun with his surrogate big sister in the snow. “I think it’ll be a snow tiger!”

“Are you just going to throw snow at me all day?” Tonks was already moving her wand.

“I can do other things…” Harry admitted even as the snow tiger was formed. “But this is fun, right?” The snow tiger rushed towards Tonks.

“You’re a cheeky little boy, aren’t you Harrikins?” Tonks slashed her wand downwards and the snow tiger was blasted apart by a powerful Slashing Curse. The Curse hit the Barrier and did nothing, making Tonks grumble as she started moving around the area to get a better shot at Harry.

“I learned from the best.” Harry glanced at Sirius, who was all smiles, and then back at Tonks. “But if you don’t want more snow…let’s change it up a bit.” He focused for a moment and put his hands together in front of his chest. His fingers were interlaced and a small smile was on his lips. “Black Out.”

“What the?!” Tonks squawked as a pitch-black mass filled the air around Harry and rapidly spread to cover the entire area. “Protego Maxima!” The Auror Cadet cast, raising a dome-shaped shield over herself. The darkness covered her shield, but didn’t penetrate it. It clearly wasn’t smoke or mist, but Tonks couldn’t describe what it was that Harry had conjured. She couldn’t see anything outside of her small protected space.

Suddenly something struck her Protego from the side. Tonks only had an instant to see it before it vanished in the darkness. Another object struck from the opposite side, making her whip her head around. More and more of the things began to hit all over her dome-shield. Tonks maintained her shield, but realized that she was trapped in place as Harry took pot-shots at her.

“What now?!” Tonks blinked as she felt the dirt beneath her feet shift. The soil was rapidly transforming into a sandy-dirt mix and swirling around within her shield. While that was already bad enough, Tonks also realized that because of the movement, she was starting to sink!

“Say ‘uncle’, Nym!” Harry’s voice came from somewhere out in the darkness.

“Never!” Tonks refused, only to have to spit as some of the gritty sand that was swirling around got in her mouth. She did notice that whatever had been bombarding her shield had stopped. “You can’t maintain too many spells yourself, Mister!” Tonks focused made a rather complex pattern with the tip of her wand and then a full circle over her head.

BANG

The blast that went off from Tonks’ spell just as she dropped her Protego was deafening. The swirling sand was blasted away along with everything else within ten meters of the Metamorph. The darkness didn’t react and only engulfed the young woman completely, leaving her blind.

“I can’t maintain too many spells, but I can use more than you at the same time, Nym.” Harry teased before Tonks felt a spell hit her back and she lost consciousness.

“You think they’re okay in there?” Remus questioned as the four older adults had been watching a dark dome for the last minute or so.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Sirius waved off the concern.

All of them jumped when a loud bang went off and they shot to their feet a moment later. As they pulled their wands to intervene, the dome dispersed entirely. Harry was standing next to Tonks, the young woman leaned against his legs and clearly unconscious. Sirius and Remus noted the dozens and dozens of bean bags scattered around the area and wondered why they’d been conjured or transfigured during the Duel.

“I think I win.” Harry grinned at his family with a chuckle.

“Almost gave us heart attacks…” Ted held his hand over his chest.

“Rennervate.” Andromeda cast on her daughter.

“Huh?” Tonks blinked as she awoke. She looked up and saw that she was leaning on Harry’s legs. “Oh bollocks…” The Metamorphmagus huffed as she realized her loss.

“What was the darkness thing, Harry?” Sirius questioned his godson with a curious gleam in his eyes.

“A spell I call Black Out.” Harry informed as he helped Tonks to her feet. “It conjures darkness, or more specifically the absence of light, and lets me cover a set area with it.”

“Completely pitch-black inside.” Tonks shook her head as she put her wand back in its holster. “But it didn’t get through my Protego Maxima.”

“Yeah, it’s a fairly simple spell, any shield that can block Magic can work on it.” Harry confirmed with a nod. “Of course, it’ll just go around any wall-like shield. Only a dome like Nym’s blocks it from a person completely.”

“Were you throwing bean bags at me?” Tonks looked at all of the scattered bean bags on the ground.

“Yeah, I figured they’d hurt a bit without being truly harmful.” Harry shrugged at her. “It’s not like I want to hurt you, Nym.”

“Well, aren’t you a sweetheart?” Tonks grinned as she pulled Harry into a hug.

“Yeah, yeah, love you too, Nym.” Harry returned the hug and only rolled his eyes when Tonks began messing up his hair.

“Any chance I could learn that spell, Harry?” Sirius had his prankster face on and Andromeda gave Harry a look that practically screamed ‘Don’t you dare, young man!’ which made Harry snort.

“Sorry, Sirius, Andromeda says no.” Harry chuckled as his godfather turned to pout at his cousin.

“Andy!” Sirius even sounded like a whining child.

“No!” Andromeda denied, looking Sirius straight in the eye.

Harry loved his family. He wouldn’t change them for anything. Now, if only Nym would let him go and stop messing up his hair.

-Granger Home ~ Christmas Morning-

“I’m certain this is a book.” Hermione grinned at Harry’s wrapped gift. Hedwig had brought it the day before yesterday and her parents had placed it under the tree along with the others. Now she could finally open it and see what Harry had sent her.

“It seems your friend knows you well then, dear.” Her father chuckled at her.

“You’re fairly easy to shop for, Hermione” Her mother smiled warmly at her.

Hermione tore the wrapping paper from the box and smiled as she removed the lid. Inside was a book, as she’d expected, but when she read the title, she blinked. Pulling the older book from the box she read over the title a second time.

A Guide to Esoteric Magics from Around the World

“Harry…” Hermione beamed at the book in her hands.

“Oh my, I do believe we’re about to lose our daughter to a book for the rest of the day.” Her mother giggled lightly as she saw the look in Hermione’s eyes.

“Can we at least keep you for dinner, little Scholar?” Her father chuckled while using the nickname her parents had given her a few years ago.

“Dad…” Hermione actually pouted at her father, which made both of her parents laugh. It was rare for their intelligent young daughter to act her age. So, any opportunity for making her do so was taken in the Granger household.

-Hogwarts Express-

“Harry!” Hermione nearly barreled into her friend with a beaming smile.

“Hello, Hermione.” Harry grinned as he returned her hug. “Did you like your gift?”

“I loved it!” Hermione smiled widely. “I never knew that there were so many different takes on Magic! Why aren’t we taught about these at Hogwarts?”

“Ministry interference or perhaps the curriculum at Hogwarts purposefully excludes them?” Harry shrugged as they found a compartment to share.

“Why would they exclude them?” Hermione looked aghast that knowledge would be purposefully withheld. “I understand some of them are rather…well, bloody in their application. But there were plenty that were perfectly safe in the book.”

“Perhaps there simply aren’t enough practitioners in the world for there to be Professors for them?” Harry guessed as he recalled a few of the forms of Magic in the book he’d gifted Hermione. While several were interesting, and things he’d probably look into later, they were esoteric because so few knew how to perform them.

“That seems like such a waste.” Hermione looked sad at the loss of an opportunity to learn.

“Yeah, the loss of knowledge if they don’t pass it down is a shame.” Harry agreed with a sigh at how much had probably been lost in the long history of humanity.

Books were pulled out and the duo chatted as they read. Hermione would point out things from her book occasionally to ask Harry about. The two both greatly enjoyed having a friend to bounce questions and ideas off of. When the trolley lady came by with snacks, Harry bought a few things and a pitcher of pumpkin juice for them. He put his book away to eat and Hermione copied him. After their snack, Hermione went back to her book while Harry began to practice something he’d been working on over the break.

‘Mage Sight…a theoretical ability or skill according to what I’ve looked up. But, if it wasn’t real, then where did the idea come from?’ Harry pondered as he relaxed back into his seat and closed his eyes.

He’d been trying different ideas to see if he could replicate the feat himself. Pushing his Magic into his eyes hadn’t done anything. He’d tried looking into his spells as he weaved them together, but that had also failed to yield any results. Going at the task from a Spellcrafting angle would probably yield results, but Harry knew he’d have to be careful. Magic and the body were intrinsically linked, but that didn’t stop Magic from being able to horribly warp and distort a person’s body if they made a mistake. Not something he wanted to experience, especially not with his eyes.

Harry spent the next several minutes going through various ideas of a spell he could make that would replicate the fabled Mage Sight. Thinking of the basics of the concept, or what he’d read about it at least, he began to ponder on Principles and Aspects that might achieve what he wanted. The basic abilities agreed upon by the few tomes that mentioned the possibility of the skill were fairly straightforward. The ability to see and perceive magic that was in objects, people, beasts, or things like spells and wards placed upon an area. Mage Sight was also rumored to allow the person to determine a spell or ward’s effect if they understood Spellcraft. He didn’t want to self-praise too much, but Spellcrafting was something he was good at.

‘Principle Observation, Aspect Sight, refined to Magic.’ Harry went the simplest route with this first attempt. He applied the spell to his eyes since it was based on sight. He felt the Magic take hold and slowly opened his eyes.

Everything was a myriad of colors.

Harry blinked a few times, but nothing changed. He couldn’t see shapes or distance at all. Everything was just shifting colors to his sight. There was no direction, no pattern, no separation between the colors, all of it just continued to shift and flow about. It was almost nauseating if he was being honest.

“Harry? What happened to your eyes?” Hermione questioned in shock and Harry turned to face the sound of her voice. All he saw was the continuing swirl and shift of the multitudes of colors. He did notice that one color was remaining stationary, but it was a small thing compared to all of the moving colors that filled his vision.

“Nothing Hermione,” Harry ended the spell and shook his head. After a few blinks, he reorientated himself and looked at his friend. “I tried out a new spell, but going the most simple and direct route clearly wasn’t the best way to go about it.”

“Your eyes were kind of glowing…it looked weird.” Hermione informed him. “What were you trying to do?”

“I was trying to make a spell that did what the fabled Mage Sight, can do.” Harry shrugged as he explained what Mage Sight supposedly was and what it allowed one to do. “Trying to just see Magic directly wasn’t it though. Nothing but colors and no shapes or depth to speak of. It was disorientating.”

“Should you really be messing with your eyes like that?” Hermione looked worriedly at him.

“I’ve made sight-based spells before.” Harry reassured her with a small smile. “But in those cases, I was basing it off the light spectrum. Magic is not quite like anything else known to man though. So, I’m going to have to figure out how to parse down the spell if I want to still be able to see the rest of the world.”

“Please don’t hurt yourself, Harry.” Hermione urged him as she worried her lower lip.

“I’ll be careful, Hermione.” Harry assured his friend with a smile and a nod. Seeing how he was worrying Hermione, Harry decided to save his further tests for later. He picked up his book again and started reading for the rest of the trip.

-Monday, January 6th-

“Longbottom the Squib!” A somewhat familiar voice caught Harry’s attention as he was heading to the library to meet up with Hermione. The loud chortling that followed the mocking statement confirmed the speaker.

‘We’ve literally only been back for a day and Draco’s being a prat already.’ Harry raised an eyebrow and headed in the direction of the Slytherin’s voice. When he rounded the corner, he saw Draco with Crabbe and Goyle, as usual. The three Slytherins were surrounding Neville Longbottom from Gryffindor. The other boy’s bag was on the floor, books spilled out on the stone. He looked to be a mix between sad, terrified, and angry.

“Have you even performed a proper spell this school year, Longbottom?” Draco sneered at the other boy contemptuously.

“Like this?” Harry pointed at the three Slytherins and a cubic Barrier appeared around them.

“Potter?!” Draco whipped around to look at the Ravenclaw. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to notice that they were surrounded by the Barrier and were blinking at it in confusion.

“How about you leave Neville alone for a bit, yeah?” Harry’s tone made it clear that his request wasn’t a request at all. He moved his index finger and the door to a broom cupboard nearby opened up. With an application of his Magic, the Barrier slid into the cupboard, carrying Draco and his bookends with it. The Barrier spell disappeared right before Harry used his Magic to shut the door on the boys.

The funny thing about that particular broom cupboard was that if you closed the door behind you. Well, then you’d find yourself all the way up on the sixth floor when you opened the door again. Harry was sure that would trip up Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe easily enough.

“Th-Thank you, Harry.” Neville gave a small smile to the Ravenclaw.

“Not a problem, Neville.” Harry made a simple motion with his hand and all of Neville’s books reentered his school bag. The bag then floated into Harry’s hand. “Here you go. You shouldn’t let those three get to you, Neville. They’re just being prats.”

“I know, but they’re not wrong either.” Neville sighed as he put the strap of his bookbag over his shoulder. “I’ve barely cast any good spells since I got to Hogwarts. A lot of people call me a Squib behind my back.”

“That seems odd.” Harry mentioned as he looked at Neville. “You got a wand from Ollivander’s, right? I didn’t think anyone walked out of that store without a good match.”

“I’m…actually using my father’s wand.” Neville mumbled out as his hand went to cover the Focus inside his pocket.

“Why’s that?” Harry had heard of heirloom wands before. But if Neville had his father’s wand, then maybe it wasn’t a good match?

“My Gran told me that I’d be honoring my father by using his wand.” Neville clearly didn’t want to talk about his parents to someone that was functionally a stranger.

“Huh, you might want to check with a wandmaker about your compatibility.” Harry suggested with a small smile. “No sense in holding yourself back if all you really need is your own wand, right?”

“…Maybe…” Neville looked as if the thought of standing up for himself was foreign.

Harry did see a spark of realization in the Gryffindor boy’s eyes as they parted ways though. With any luck, Neville might just get himself on the right track with a wand of his own. It would certainly make far more sense than handicapping himself by trying to use a wand that wasn’t compatible. With a shrug, Harry continued on his way towards the library to meet Hermione.

-Herbology Greenhouse #1-

“Mr. Potter, may I ask what you’re doing?” Professor Sprout questioned the prodigious student.

“Trying my hand at plant-based spells, Professor.” Harry informed the squat Witch with a smile. He had both hands on either side of a flowerpot and was trying to make the seed planted in the dirt inside sprout.

“You do know that spells that make plants grow often kill them afterwards, correct?” Professor Sprout warned the First Year.

“Yes ma’am,” Harry nodded as he focused on his Magic and how it interacted with the seed in the dirt. “I’m trying to see if I can circumvent that.”

“Many have tried over the years, Mr. Potter.” Professor Sprout informed as she went about the greenhouse to check on all of the plants. This was the best time for her to do so as it was the free time after classes but before dinner.

“Doing the impossible sounds like a good challenge, Professor.” Harry chuckled as he felt the seed shift a little through his Magic. ‘Hmm, so I should probably change the Aspect from Growth to something more controlled and specific if I don’t want to kill the plant.’ His boundless curiosity led him to trying all sorts of Branches of Magic. He did want to learn as much as possible after all.

“Professor?” Neville Longbottom spoke up from the door to the greenhouse.

“Ah, Mr. Longbottom, come in, come in.” Professor Sprout smiled at the boy. “You wanted to help with the care of the Aster Leaf plants, yes?”

“Yes ma’am,” Neville nodded with a smile. Herbology was his absolute favorite subject. “Is Harry helping out too?”

“Not quite,” Professor Sprout shook her head slightly. “Mr. Potter is continuing his self-study. You and I will be caring for the plants.”

“Oh, alright then.” Neville nodded to Harry with a small smile.

“How’s the new wand treating you, Neville?” Harry asked politely. Apparently, after a couple of days to work up the nerve, Neville had approached McGonagall about his wand. The Gryffindor Head of House had apparently gone on a tirade against Neville’s grandmother that could be heard in the corridor outside of her office. Neville had been taken to Ollivander’s the next day by McGonagall herself.

“It’s great, thank you.” Neville’s right hand drifted down to pat his pocket where his new wand resided. He’d seen a marked improvement in his Practical Magic scores and had been performing spells much easier than ever before.

Harry spent almost until dinner in the greenhouse trying to figure out how to make the seed sprout without killing the lant right after. Perhaps he was going about it wrong, but so far, he’d killed almost a dozen individual seeds. There was something different about using Magic on living things that resulted in these unexpected side-effects.

‘Maybe I need a combination of Charms and Transfiguration, both following the natural cycles that we learned about in Herbology?’ Harry pondered as he walked towards the Great Hall. Plant Magic could become very useful and lucrative if Harry could understand it. He just needed to come up with a process by which to accelerate it safely.

There was still Runes and Script-based Magics to look into as well. Harry had temporarily put those on the backburner to focus on making his Flight spell. Now that he had succeeded, though he still practiced daily with it, he could look into Runes again. Even he could only focus on so many things at once. Splitting his focus too many times would result in a slower pace and shoddier work.

‘So much to look into and so much still to uncover.’ Harry mused to himself with a slight grin. ‘Magic never fails to hold my sense of wonder.’

“Harry!” Hermione waved him over to the seat next to her at the Ravenclaw Table. “You look happy, did your tests in the greenhouse work out?”

“Not exactly, but I think I made some progress at least.” Harry shrugged with a smile. “I’ve got plenty of things to look into for my self-study.”

“Just don’t go crazy with it, please?” Hermione requested with a concerned look.

“Of course, Hermione, don’t you worry.” Harry assured her.

“Why does that make me worry more?” Hermione looked at him pointedly.

“No idea!” Harry’s grinned widely at his friend.

“Harry!” Hermione playfully swatted at him.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

We see some more of what Harry can do in a friendly Duel with Tonks over the Yule Break.

The Under 17 Dueling Circuit is in for a rough time this summer, huh?

Hermione has been shown that more Magic exists out in the wide world thanks to Harry’s gift to her. That has the bookworm in Hermione oh so very curious!

Will Harry be able to come up with a spell that allows him to have Mage Sight?

Harry is exploring more and varied Branches of Magic as he looks into Plant Magic too. His curiosity is truly boundless, isn’t it?

We’re heading closer and closer to the end of First Year!

Will a certain corridor be explored again?

Is a meeting between two certain Wizards fated to happen?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!