Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! Lockhart’s first class was shit…as Harry expected. But the school year will continue! Harry and friends have classes to go to, and Harry has multiple Magic projects that he’s looking into as well. However, the research for one has reached the end and it’s time to move ahead with it! Halloween will be here before they know it! Surely nothing could happen TWO Halloweens in a row…right?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 15 – A Doctor and Secret Chambers

“It’s ready.” Harry smiled as he finished the last of his tests on a common rat. Hogwarts had plenty of them and it wasn’t like he was hurting the animal much at all. He even fed it for its trouble. “Time to begin the real treatment.” Harry chuckled to himself as he watched the rat scamper off and disappear into a small crevice in the wall.

-Hogwarts ~ Slytherin Common Room-

“Dum dee dum doo…” Harry hummed as he stepped up to the blank stone wall with a grin. “Now, let’s see here.” His eyes glowed slightly as he used his still in-progress Mage Sight spell to look at the protections on the door. “Really? They didn’t add anything? Truly mindboggling.” Harry reached out with Magic Manipulation and removed the set password to the door. “How about a new password of…Abracadabra.” He chortled as the new password was accepted and the doorway was revealed to him.

Harry strolled into the Slytherin Common Room like it was perfectly normal for him to be there. A quick glance around the room and he spotted Daphne and Tracy sitting on one of the couches and having a conversation. Not drawing any attention to himself, he walked towards them. Angling himself to approach from behind Daphne, Harry suppressed a chuckle as he stopped behind his friend and shot a grin at Tracy.

“Snrk.” Tracy barely contained a snort of laughter as she saw Harry once more in the Slytherin Common Room.

“What was that about?” Daphne raised an eyebrow at Tracy’s sudden outburst.

“Oh, nothing…” Tracy shook her head, trying not to look at Harry and give away the upcoming surprise.

“Uh huh…” Daphne clearly didn’t believe her.

“Tracy is probably just amused by something that no one else has noticed.” Harry spoke up from behind Daphne in a nonchalant tone.

“Potter!” Daphne whirled around to look at the intruder in the Slytherin Common Room. “Why are you in here?!”

“I needed to speak with you about a matter of utmost importance.” Harry answered with a smile, even as all of the other Slytherins now noticed his presence after Daphne’s startled shout.

“Potter!”

“How’d you get in here?!”

“Get out, Potter!”

“How dare you break into our Common Room again!”

A few of the upper year students stood up from their seats and Harry noticed at least three wands being drawn. One of those three happened to be Draco Malfoy’s wand and Harry wondered just what Draco thought he’d accomplish.

“No worries, gentlemen and ladies, I’ll be out of your common room in just a moment.” Harry smiled at the Slytherins. “Miss Greengrass, if you could accompany me for a discussion at your earliest convenience, I would be most delighted.” He spoke with a formal air, but the way that Tracy was covering her mouth with her hand to prevent her laughter, Harry knew his joke had gotten through.

“Potter…why are you in our common room, again?” Daphne could already hear the whispers of her housemates. Not to mention the annoying giggles that came from the more gossip-inclined of the Slytherin girls.

“As I said, I needed to speak with you about a most urgent matter.” Harry spoke mildly, as if they were in one of the corridors and he hadn’t just broken into another House’s common room…again.

“You know, Potter, there are these very useful creature called OWLS. They deliver letters to people, so that said people don’t BREAK IN to places they shouldn’t be.” Daphne lightly glared at Harry for the embarrassment that she knew she would be going through once this incident hit the Hogwarts’ Rumor Mill.

“Of course, of course, but it seems a waste to use Hedwig to simply carry a note across the castle.” Harry waved off with a grin.

“And you couldn’t wait until we were in class or in the corridors, because…?” Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, wanting to hear his answer.

“Because it was urgent.” Harry smiled at her.

“Oh Merlin…” Daphne pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. “Fine.” She stood up from the couch. “Let’s talk.”

“Brilliant!” Harry beamed at her for a second and led the way out of the Common Room.

“Potter!” Draco spoke up loudly, glaring at Harry. “You can’t just come in here and walk out with one of our girls whenever you want!” He leveled his wand at Harry.

“One of our girls?” Daphne’s wand whipped out. “Petrificus Totalus!” Draco barely had time to squawk before his legs snapped together, his arms went ramrod straight at his sides and he fell to the floor completely immobile. “Don’t ever act like you have ownership over me, Malfoy.” Daphne glared coldly at the blonde boy on the floor. She put her wand away and nearly stalked out of the room afterwards.

“Right then…ta-ta!” Harry waved and headed out of the common room after Daphne. The rest of the Slytherins looked between the door and the immobilized Draco for a moment. “Oh, right!” Harry poked his head back into the common room. “The new password is Abracadabra; in case you need it.” And then he was gone again.

“So…how long should we leave Malfoy there?” Tracy asked the other girls with a smirk on her lips.

-Seventh Floor-

“You remembered.” Harry chuckled as they stepped out of the broom closet from the last time that he’d had a similar private discussion with Daphne.

“Yes, it’s actually somewhat convenient if I’m running late for a class on this floor.” Daphne admitted to using the broom cupboard to traverse between the ground floor and the seventh floor when she needed to. “Now, what exactly was so important that you had to break into the Slytherin Common Room again, to talk to me about?”

“How would you like to be free of that curse?” Harry asked bluntly, his face serious as he looked into Daphne’s blue eyes.

Daphne reeled back as if she’d been struck at his question. She shook her head, sending her raven hair swaying for a moment. “You can’t be serious.” She looked straight into his green eyes for any sign of joking or deceit. “Potter…Harry…are, are you serious?” Harry saw hope in Daphne’s eyes, unguarded and bare for the world to see.

“Completely.” Harry nodded to her firmly. He didn’t even try to make the most common joke in his family given how much this meant to Daphne.

“Y-You’re not joking…” Daphne felt the tremors in her body, but she couldn’t do anything to stop them. “How?”

“A lot of research, some of which probably would’ve gotten me in trouble if I’d been caught, and then a bit of testing to make sure my idea worked.” Harry answered her with a comforting smile. “So, are you ready to get rid of that curse and be free?”

“Yes!” Daphne leapt at the chance.

No more random bouts of intense pain. No more getting sick so easily. No more of feeling like her Magic was being interfered with and slowly drained away over time. Plus, if it worked for her, then Harry could save Astoria who had been hit with double the normal curse. Not to mention their parents. Her father had been having some trouble using his Magic in the last year as the Blood Malediction got worse in him. Her mother’s curse hadn’t manifested as badly since she was a distant relation that had married back into the Main Family Line, but getting rid of it could only be good.

“Alright, then follow me, I know a place where no one will interrupt the treatment.” Harry led her down the corridor for a bit.

The two turned one corner, then another, before Harry stopped in front of a tall painting of a landscape. The image in the frame depicted a cottage in what appeared to be springtime. Harry raised his hand and carefully knocked on the painted door. To Daphne’s surprise, she heard the sound as if Harry was knocking on an actual wooden door. The image in the painting shifted, seemingly zooming in on the door to the cottage.

“After you.” Harry smiled as he physically touched the handle of the cottage door and pushed it open.

“Harry…what is this?” Daphne stepped through the door and into the ‘cottage’ itself.

“I believe it’s a portrait with a similar space expansion Charm to some top-of-the-line trunks.” Harry mentioned as he closed the door behind them. Unseen to them was the painting returning to its normal view within the frame. People could walk by it and never notice them or that anything was amiss with the painting itself. “It might’ve been placed here at Hogwarts because its one of the few places that has enough free-flowing Magic to power it. From what I’ve gleaned from studying it a bit, this thing takes a ridiculous amount of Magic to properly use the Space Expanding Charm.”

“How did you find it?” Daphne questioned him curiously. She had a feeling that she’d actually walked past this painting at least a few times since she started at Hogwarts last year.

“I can see its Magic.” Harry’s eyes glowed lightly as he briefly cast his imperfect Mage Sight spell.

“Of course.” Daphne shook her head. She still had no idea why he hadn’t announced that he’d made a Mage Sight spell. He’d be getting even more recognition and acclaim if he did.

“Alright, just need a few things.” Harry gestured to the empty room and a padded table was conjured into being. A wave of his hand and a large folding screen blocked off one corner of the room. With a snap of his fingers, a grey tank top with matching cotton shorts appeared in his free hand. “Change into these behind the screen and then lay on the table. You’re not going to be able to stand during this, I’m afraid.”

“Why do I have to change into this?” Daphne eyed the clothing. It was certainly more revealing than what most Witches and Wizards were familiar with, even if it covered everything that needed to be covered.

“Because your clothing might get in the way.” Harry answered her easily. “Your robe and uniform have spells woven into them. They could interfere with the treatment.”

“Fine…I trust you, Harry.” Daphne looked at him for a moment before going behind the screen to change. “If I find out that you can see through this screen, I’m going to hex the daylights out of you.”

“Your treatment is far more important than trying to get a peek at you, Daphne.” Harry rolled his eyes with a grin. “Besides, I’m twelve, I’ve only just started puberty. I’m not to the point of being desperate for such things like some of the older students are.” He chuckled at how often couples would try and sneak away to little hiding spots all over the castle for some alone time.

A minute or so later and Daphne emerged from behind the screen in the tank top and shorts. She was clearly not used to exposing her shoulders and legs to others as she fidgeted slightly when she met Harry’s eyes. She hopped up onto the padded table and then laid down like Harry had said.

“This is going feel weird, but try not to move too much. I promise it won’t hurt.” Harry smiled at Daphne with absolute surety in his statement.

“Okay.” Daphne gave the best nod she could while lying on the table.

“Then Doctor Potter will begin the Blood Malediction treatment.” Harry joked lightly as he activated his Mage Sight spell and brought his magic to bear.

“Doctor is the Muggle word for Healer, right?” Daphne wasn’t very versed in the Muggle World, but she was fairly certain the two were the same.

“Pretty much, but the Non-Magical specialize way more than the Magical.” Harry confirmed as he placed his hands over Daphne’s head to start the process.

The dark, ugly, maroon Magic of the Blood Malediction pulsed beneath Harry’s Mage Sight gaze. Just like before, the root-like entanglement of the curse was spread throughout Daphne’s body and Magic alike. Harry reached out with Magic Manipulation and took hold of one of the ‘roots’ carefully. Using his Magic, he mimicked the ‘Weeding’ Charm that he used to help Andromeda with her garden. The single root of the Blood Malediction that he was focusing on was surrounded in his Magic now. Making the equivalent of a scalpel with his Magic, Harry separated the encased ‘root’ from Daphne’s Magic and body. Learning about Magical Surgery had come in handy as he combined multiple different, and seemingly unrelated, spells to create something new.

“Just like the tests.” Harry murmured quietly to himself, with Daphne only barely able to hear him. “This will take a bit, Daphne, but I guarantee that it’ll work.” He smiled at his friend.

“Yes.” Daphne didn’t know what else to say to such a statement. It was all that she’d ever wanted since learning of the Blood Malediction. If Harry could save her and her family, then she didn’t feel like words would ever be enough to thank him.

Harry set to work on removing the Blood Malediction in silence after that. He’d encase a ‘root’ of the curse with his Magic, and then sever its connection to Daphne’s Magic and body while maintaining the encasement. With his ability to maintain multiple spells simultaneously, Harry was able to make progress. He couldn’t let a single separated ‘root’ out of containment or it would instantly reattach to Daphne and the Blood Malediction would most probably react violently to the attempted removal. Such things had happened on a few of his test rats.

‘That makes thirty-nine.’ Harry kept count of each ‘root’ that he removed from Daphne’s body and Magic. Connecting each new ‘containment’ to the previous ones made them all into a single spell, which meant that Harry didn’t have to continually split his focus to maintain each individual encasement. His hands were now hovering over her pelvis and thighs, which made Daphne blush slightly even though there was clear distance between them. Harry could only imagine how much worse this would get as Daphne aged, the number of roots had increased a bit since the last time he’d seen the Blood Malediction in her just last year. He didn’t want to think about how bad her little sister had it, or her parents that had dealt with it for decades longer.

‘It’s going to work. It’s going to work. It’s going to work.’ Daphne repeated over and over in her mind like a mantra as Harry’s hands continually passed lower and lower over her body. He was down to her thighs now, still embarrassing, but not to the same level as when they’d been hovering over her pelvis. She didn’t really feel any different yet, but that might be because her body was currently suffused in Harry’s Magic. It was an odd feeling that Daphne didn’t quite know how to describe, but she sensed the desire to help her in it and that helped her relax as Harry worked.

‘Fifty-eight.’ Harry encased another root and cut it off from Daphne’s body and Magic with his ‘spell scalpel’ as he’d started calling it after the first dozen of the roots. ‘Fifty-nine.’ He carefully added the new encasement to the spell that held the rest. It wouldn’t do to get sloppy now and risk losing control of the roots. Harry didn’t even want to think about how bad the backlash would be to Daphne if he failed to contain the roots properly this far into the procedure. ‘Sixty.’ That was another one, his hands were now hovering over Daphne’s feet as he went for the final two roots. ‘Sixty-one.’ The root connected to the sole of the left foot was separated and added to the containment. ‘Sixty-two.’ Harry severed the last root from the bottom of Daphne’s right foot and contained it as well. With careful control, Harry gently moved the contained Blood Malediction up and away from Daphne’s body.

“Haah…” Daphne inhaled sharply as Harry’s Magic moved away from her. She suddenly felt like a weight that had been slowly crushing her was lifted. Daphne would’ve sworn that she’d taken a full breath for the first time in ages right then and there. Tears sprung to her eyes and she moved her hands to her face to wipe them away, but they kept coming.

“It was a success, Daphne, you’re free.” Harry smiled at her gently.

“Th-th-thank you, H-Harry!” Daphne acted her age, sniffling and crying in joy and relief, uncaring of how she looked at the moment.

“I told you that I’d help if I was able.” Harry reminded her with a warm grin. “I like to keep my promises, especially to my friends.”

“Thank you…” Daphne saw a handkerchief floating in front of her and accepted it to dry her eyes. Once she’d calmed down a bit, she looked at Harry only to recoil in shock at what was next to him.

Within a strangely translucent, light-green bubble was a horrid maroon…thing…that Daphne couldn’t describe well. It was like roots all bundled together, but with such blatant malice that she could practically feel it against her skin. Harry saw her reaction and shook his head to let her know that she wasn’t in any danger.

“What is that?” Daphne had a good idea, but she wanted confirmation.

“This is what the morally deficient Magic known as a Blood Malediction looks like.” Harry confirmed for his friend with a grimace as he examined it more closely now that it had been removed from Daphne. Now he could poke and prod at it with his Magic since it couldn’t cause her any harm.

“Why can I see it though?” Daphne questioned as she moved her legs to the side of the padded table.

“Because of the Magic that I’ve contained it in.” Harry answered as he looked at the curse more in depth. “I find it easier to study active spells when I can see them both physically and with my Mage Sight spell.”

“I see.” Daphne slid off the table and kept a far distance between herself and the bubble of Magic that held the curse which had resided in her body since she was born. “What will happen to it now?” She slipped behind the folding screen to change back into her uniform and robe. Harry had gotten more than enough time to see her in this skimpy outfit, in her opinion.

“Nothing.” Harry replied as he prodded the Blood Malediction a bit more, seeing how it reacted to negative stimulus. The roots flailed a bit within the bubble, but they moved as if they were submerged in water, slow and with resistance. “Once I disperse this Magic, the curse will fade away. Its original caster is long dead, so there’s no one around to reinforce it and keep it active.”

“Good.” Daphne said from behind the screen. It was another minute before the girl emerged and once more took a look at the malicious maroon curse. “I’m done.”

“Alright, I’ve got what I wanted to know too.” Harry dispersed his Magic. Daphne watched with some vindictive glee as the Blood Malediction vanished into nothing. “Just need to tidy up.” Harry dispersed his conjurations and the padded table, the folding screen, the handkerchief, and the tank top and shorts that Daphne had been wearing all vanished. The room within the painting was empty once more.

Daphne said nothing and wrapped her arms around Harry in a tight hug. Harry was startled for a second before he returned the hug and gently rubbed Daphne’s back. The twelve year old girl felt a renewed bout of sniffles and tears, but they disappeared into Harry’s robe as soon as they formed. The two just hugged each other, one finally free of what had been an early death for generations of her family, the other just happy that he’d been able to help his friend with his knowledge and some hard work.

“I can never thank you enough for this.” Daphne pulled back just enough for her words not to be muffled. “But I’ll try to for the rest of my life.”

“No worries, Daphne.” Harry gave her a small squeeze. “But if you want to do something for me, why not call me Harry from now on?” He pulled back a bit further to look at her directly with a smile. “We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah, we are…Harry.” Daphne grinned back at him. With the same grin, she leaned forward and placed a chaste peck on his cheek before pulling away from him entirely.

“Well…” Harry touched where Daphne’s lips had been. “Thank you?”

“I think this is the first time I’ve seen you perplexed, Harry.” Daphne laughed brightly at the expression on his face. What a weight the Blood Malediction had been! Now that it was gone, Daphne felt free and lighter than a feather!

“Well, never been kissed on the cheek outside of family before.” Harry mused, a smile on his face as he saw how happy Daphne was.

“Speaking of family.” Daphne was suddenly serious again. “When do you think you can remove the curse on my family?”

“Depends on when I can meet them.” Harry took on a thinking pose. “As long as we have time and a quiet space where nothing will distract me, it should be possible to remove it from each of them.”

“I’ll write to them as soon as I get back to my dorm.” Daphne stated, her blue eyes already contemplating. “Once they know the curse that was on me is gone, they’ll know that you can break the Blood Malediction. But the first break from school is the winter break. I don’t want Astoria or my parents to wait that long.” Daphne mumbled aloud. “Astoria has the bouts of pain more often than even my father…and she always gets sick in the winter.”

“Huh, so you can talk about it now.” Harry looked pleased by the discovery.

“What?” Daphne questioned Harry curiously.

“You said Blood Malediction directly.” Harry pointed out to her. “You couldn’t do that before.” He reminded her that the closest that she’d ever come was using the term ‘malediction’ to give Harry a hint towards her Family’s condition.

“Y-You’re right.” Daphne’s eyes widened. “But how? The Magic shouldn’t go away just because the curse did.”

“I removed it.” Harry admitted with a shrug. “It seemed redundant since it won’t exist for very much longer.”

“When did you remove it?!” Daphne hadn’t noticed at all.

“When I finished up with removing the Malediction.” Harry answered simply. “It’s not too hard, since it’s only a binding on a specific topic. Just undo the subject of the Magic and the binding comes apart easily.”

“I’ll…just pretend I understood that.” Daphne shook her head at Harry. This was her life now with him as a friend. She wondered how Hermione dealt with it? A question for later.

“Well, do you want me to walk you back to your common room?” Harry offered as they headed for the door.

“Thank you, but no.” Daphne decided against it. “There’s already going to be a ton of new and embarrassing rumors about you breaking into the Slytherin Common Room to meet me again. No sense adding anything more to it by having you walk me back too.”

“Alright then.” Harry shrugged and opened the door for her. Daphne graced him with a small smile for his politeness and exited the painting. Harry stepped out after her and the two walked down the corridor as the painting returned to its usual appearance again.

“This is where we part ways, for now.” Daphne motioned toward the tapestry with the Hogwarts sigil on it. It would lead down the spiral staircase that traversed the seventh floor down to the ground floor in only thirty steps. Another secret passageway that Harry had shown her and that she made use of semi-frequently.

“Indeed, but one last thing, now that your Magic isn’t being hampered by the curse, you’re probably not at your full strength yet.” Harry mentioned as he held his right hand, palm up, between them. The golden points of light from the spell with the fake incantation that had led to their initial meeting began to spin around and into a ring of light. “Let me give you a boost so that your own Magic will have a little jumpstart for its recovery.” The ring of light moved over to Daphne and sank into her skin. She started to glow slightly and felt the rush that came with being under this particular spell.

“Thank you, Harry.” Daphne smiled at him again. She gave him a quick hug before disappearing behind the tapestry and down the hidden staircase behind it.

“Two for me, zero for Daphne, on the pranks.” Harry chuckled as he walked off towards the Astronomy Tower. He’d fly from there to the Owlery and see how Hedwig was doing.

-Slytherin Common Room-

“Abracadabra.” Daphne didn’t even care about the dumb password that Harry chose as the blank wall turned into the short corridor that led into the common room. She walked in and all talking stopped. Keeping her face relaxed came easily from practice, but she did wonder why everyone was looking at her.

“Hey Daphne.” Tracy smiled at her best friend. “Have a good time with Harry?”

“Must you phrase it like that?” Daphne deadpanned at Tracy.

“Keep that blank face up all you want.” Tracy waved her question aside with a grin. “I can tell when you’re happy.”

“She must’ve had a good time.” An older Slytherin girl grinned teasingly from a different couch. “She’s literally glowing.” Her friends all giggled behind their hands.

“Glowing…” Daphne’s eyes widened, both at the innuendo and as she raised her hands in front of her and saw that the glow from Harry’s spell hadn’t faded away yet. “Oh, that little prat!” She had half a mind to hunt him down and hex him for this!

“My, my, my, Greengrass…who knew you could be so serious at your age.” Another of the older Slytherin girls teased with a laugh.

‘Bloody hell…this is going to end up in the rumor mill so fast.’ Daphne realized even as she sat next to Tracy and tried to ignore the snickering. She would definitely be hexing Harry for this later! ‘But…he did save me.’ She exhaled and let some tension release from her shoulders. ‘Just a little hex then.’ Daphne decided.

-Halloween-

“Having fun, Luna?” Harry asked his little sister with a smile.

“Yep!” Luna chirped as she enjoyed more candy that they’d brought from the Halloween Feast.

“You two are having way too much.” Hermione cautioned them, even though she’d also indulged during the feast. She wouldn’t be mentioning that in her next letter to her parents.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Harry chuckled as they continued to walk. Luna nodded in agreement with her big brother.

“You’re spoiling Luna.” Hermione pointed out to Harry, a grin pulling at her lips. Harry was proving to be a doting big brother.

“Absolutely.” Harry agreed without hesitation. “It’s part of a big brother’s job.”

“Uh huh!” Luna nodded in agreement, her long blonde hair flying around a bit and making Harry chuckle.

A crowd of students blocking the corridor stopped their progress unexpectedly. Looking around the crowd for a moment in confusion, Harry and Hermione looked at each other curiously. It was only a moment later that they noticed that the floor in this part of the corridor was wet, water pooling on the stones beneath their feet.

“Move over a bit.” Harry requested and two Barrier spells formed to gently edge the crowd of students aside. Harry, Luna, and Hermione walked forward and stared at the flooded corridor before something on the wall caught their eyes.

On the wall, smeared with what looked like fresh blood, was a message.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

“What does that mean?” Harry murmured after reading the warning. ‘Or maybe threat would be a better word for this?’

“Is that Mrs. Norris?!” Hermione pointed to a nearby sconce that was holding an ever-burning torch.

Indeed, it was Mrs. Norris, Caretaker Filch’s nasty pet cat. The feline was hanging from the sconce by her tail. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring. To many people, the cat looked dead.

“Nooo!” Filch wailed, shoving his way through the students to get to his pet. Professors were now showing up as well, all of them with wide eyes as they beheld the scene. “My Mrs. Norris! My cat is dead!” Filch cried out as he gently pulled the stiff cat off the wall sconce.

“Enemies of the Heir, beware! You’ll be next, Mudbloods!” Draco Malfoy spoke up over the quiet that had settled in the corridor from Filch’s cries of anguish.

“Mr. Malfoy!” McGonagall snapped at the blond, making his back straighten instantly. “Twenty-five points from Slytherin for use of such disgusting language!”

That got a few dissatisfied murmurs from the other Slytherins, a few of the older year students sending warning looks at Draco to not open his mouth again.

“Come now, Argus.” Dumbledore placed his hand gently on the Caretaker’s shoulder. “We’ll see what we can do for Mrs. Norris.” He quietly assured the man, knowing that the cat may not be dead, even though she very much looked like it. Dumbledore never expected the Chamber to be opened again. This would require all of his available time to look into. How had it happened when Tom, the one that he was certain had opened it last time, wasn’t in the school?

“It was definitely a curse that killed her.” Lockhart nodded, observing the cat in Filch’s arms from a short distance away. “Probably the Transmogrifian Torture…I’ve seen it used many times, so unlucky that I wasn’t there, I know the exact counter-curse that would have saved her.”

The sheer disbelief that Harry felt from hearing that statement was immeasurable. He noticed quite a few other students with a similar look. But that was to be expected given how Lockhart’s first class had gone. It was common knowledge (thanks to Hogwarts’s infamous rumor mill) that Lockhart had received a written warning and was on thin ice now. His tenure as DADA Professor may not even last the year.

Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout both looked at the man with open disdain after he’d put the Second Years of their Houses in danger during that first class. It was odd seeing any negative look on the normally cheerful Sprout’s face. But she was a Hufflepuff through and through, her students were like her children and she was the Mama Bear.

“I don’t believe she is dead, Argus.” Dumbledore chose to ignore Lockhart’s boasting. He had his oddly knobbed wand in hand and was slowly waving it over Mrs. Norris. “I believe she’s been petrified.” The Headmaster mumbled just loudly enough to be heard.

“So, Lockhart is a twit, big surprise.” Harry rolled his eyes and Hermione even silently agreed with him if the look on her face was anything to go by.

“Petrified?” Argus looked at Dumbledore with some hope in his eyes.

‘Petrification, huh?’ Harry activated his Mage Sight spell and looked at Mrs. Norris while Dumbledore urged Argus to walk towards the nearest office, which just so happened to be Lockhart’s. The peacock was trying to look important while blustering on about how he knew Mrs. Norris was actually petrified the whole time.

“Can you fix her, Dumbledore?” Filch asked, his eyes dry but his voice still thick with emotion.

“A Mandrake Draught will need to be acquired, Argus, but that should cure her right away.” Dumbledore nodded to the Caretaker. Harry, Hermione, and Luna stood in the only clear path (created by Harry’s two Barrier spells) and Dumbledore asked them to move with his eyes, the normal twinkle gone from them.

“Her Magic is frozen.” Harry spoke up, his eyes losing the slight glow they had. “That’s why Mrs. Norris is like that.” Both Dumbledore and Filch looked at Harry confused. ‘Petrification…what an interesting effect.’ Harry thought in the privacy of his mind.

Everyone knew that Mrs. Norris was at least part-Kneazle. She was too intelligent, and far too good at finding students that were in places they shouldn’t be, for her to be just a regular cat. But that meant she had some innate Magic of her own. It was by looking at her Magic that Harry was able to ascertain the problem.

“May I, Mr. Filch?” Harry asked the man as Mrs. Norris’s owner.

“What’re you doing, boy?” Filch nearly growled at Harry. “Dumbledore said she needs a Mandrake Draught.”

“I’m pretty sure that I can undo this.” Harry motioned to the statue-like cat in Filch’s arms. “If you agree to it, of course.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, Mr. Potter?” Dumbledore questioned Harry curiously. “A Mandrake Draught can be bought from St. Mungo’s and delivered here in just a day or so.”

“She just needs her Magic unfrozen is all.” Harry smiled at the Headmaster. “Mr. Filch?” He looked at the grisly old Caretaker again.

“If you hurt my cat, I’ll kill you, boy.” Filch threatened under his breath, but his desire to help his pet outweighed his dislike of the students.

“Let’s see…” Harry gently placed his hand on the petrified cat. “Hmm…ney ney, oh la…mah, mah…” Harry murmured a little tune as he gently cycled his Magic into Mrs. Norris and began using Magic Manipulation. He could feel the locked up Magic within the cat and began to move it with his own. As he moved Mrs. Norris’s Magic bit by bit a light glow emitted from his palm that was touching the cat.

Had Harry been paying attention to anything other than what he was doing, he’d have noticed that the entire corridor had gone silent as they all watched him work.

‘It’s like breaking ice and melting it back into water.’ Harry compared the process to a physical phenomenon that he had some experience with. With every little bit of Mrs. Norris’s Magic that he ‘unfroze’, the cat’s Magic began to move throughout her body again, flowing around the still ‘frozen’ parts like water over ice. “There we go.” Harry grinned as he broke the last of the locked up Magic and felt the cat’s body go limp for a second.

“Mrs. Norris?!” Filch nearly panicked when his cat went limp in his arms. A spark of rage flared up as he thought that Harry had killed his cat for real.

“Meowrr…” The single meow from Mrs. Norris doused any rage Filch felt as the cat raised its head and looked around while in Filch’s arms.

“Mrs. Norris!” Filch hugged his pet gently, petting her fur and nearly twirling her around.

“My word…” Dumbledore blinked at seeing petrification undone without the need of a Mandrake Draught.

“Doctor Potter strikes again.” Daphne chuckled and Tracy (along with everyone else in earshot) turned to look at her curiously.

“Glad that the little devil is alright.” Harry grinned at Mrs. Norris. She may not like the students any more than Filch did, but that was no reason for her to be petrified by this ‘Heir’ or whoever.

“Maybe you aren’t so bad…Potter.” Filch nodded to the boy, before moving towards Lockhart’s office along with the Professors.

“Prefects!” Dumbledore raised his voice slightly. “Please guide your Houses to their common rooms. Curfew is going to be enforced right now and no one is to leave their commons rooms until morning.” He gave his instructions to all of the gathered Prefects.

“Yes, Headmaster.” The chorus of almost a dozen voices replied to Dumbledore’s words. The students started being rounded up and ushered down the corridor away from the flooded bathroom and the message on the wall.

“Mr. Potter, if you could follow us, I’d like to ask you about that bit of Magic that you just performed.” Dumbledore requested politely, though it wasn’t really a request that Harry could refuse.

“Yes, Headmaster.” Harry nodded before he turned to Luna and hugged her. “Be good and head up to Ravenclaw Tower with Hermione, alright?”

“Okay.” Luna squeezed him tightly for a moment. “Can I wait for you in the common room?” Her silvery-blue eyes looked up at him hopefully.

“Of course, you can.” Harry agreed and gave her another gentle squeeze. “Hermione will stay with you too.”

“Yes, I will.” Hermione nodded and took one of Luna’s hands in hers with a smile. “We’ll eat all of Harry’s candy before he gets back, right?” She teased and Luna giggled a bit before shaking her head.

“That wouldn’t be nice, Hermione.” Luna smiled up at her friend.

“Exactly.” Harry nodded in agreement with Luna. “Luna is a good girl. She wouldn’t be so mean, Hermione.” He stuck his tongue out at Hermione.

“So mature…” Hermione rolled her eyes and began to walk off with Luna towards the Ravenclaw Common Room. “Luna…why is your wand behind your ear?”

“For safekeeping.” Luna replied with a smile.

Harry snickered at his little sister’s response before moving to follow after Dumbledore and the rest of the Professors. ‘Hopefully this doesn’t take too long.’ The Spellcrafter hoped in his mind as he neared Lockhart’s office.

-End Chapter-

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Doctor Potter, breaker of unbreakable curses, will see you now! Kek!

With one Greengrass freed from the Blood Malediction, now it’s only a matter of time before the rest are saved, right?

Lockhart is still a twit…big shock there.

Harry easily sees how petrification works and figures out a simple way to undo it!

But the Chamber of Secrets has been opened! Me thinks things are going to get worse before they get better.

Will Harry have to step up and deal with this year’s problem?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!