Risky Magic

By TeraWatt

Meanwhile, the winter solstice approached. Harry was, by now, well versed in the rituals he was going to perform and had been quizzed daily by the avatar about their requirements.

Chapter 06

Harry paused for a moment. The momentary disorientation of unblocking his memories was quite familiar by now.

"Tell me one last time Harry," the avatar (now in the form of Rowena Black, his father's maternal grandmother)

"I start with the "Stop Core Growth Ritual" to stabilize my core. This will have to be performed for every ritual I perform before my magical maturity at age seventeen."

Rowena nodded.

"Secondly, the "Core Re-enforcing Ritual" to allow me to absorb magic safely. This ritual is to be performed for every solstice and equinox for as long as I attend Hogwarts and have mortal enemies. Thirdly, the "Core Elasticity Ritual" to allow core expansion from stored magic. This ritual is to be performed following the "Core re-enforcing Ritual" every time to stop magic saturation. Next, the one-off "Eyesight Ritual", which is self-explanatory. The "Good Health Ritual" every solstice grants a boost to one's immune system and defends one from all mundane poisons. "The Good Fortune Ritual" replaces it every equinox, then the "Expand Mind Ritual" every solstice and equinox, which used to be standard for all students before rituals fell out of favour. Then we unlock one of my abilities."

"And to finish?"

"To finish, we restart natural core growth with the "Continue Core Growth Ritual"."

"Good. By now, we've reviewed each ritual until you could perform them in your sleep. Luckily for you, you don't need to create a ritual circle for each ritual thanks to this marvellous Room. Lets get started." And with that, the avatar disappeared so Harry could work without distractions.

The Room reformed itself into a circular stone room with a runic circle deeply engraved on the ground. If the rituals were to be done anywhere other than the Room, the runes would have to be filled with blood from the person performing the ritual so as to power the runes. As it was, the Room was the most concentrated location in a magic saturated castle, so no additional power was required.

Harry stripped off and stepped into the runic circle which began to give off a golden glow. Harry then performed the necessary chant in perfect Gaelic. He waited for the glow to disappear from the runes before stepping out of the circle and concentrating on the next circle he would require. The room reformed and Harry continued with the rituals.

It took several uninterrupted hours of rituals before he was finished and dressed again. He took a seat and the avatar reappeared, still wearing the same body as before.

Harry had expected to feel different after performing powerful rituals, but he felt no different than usual. He asked the avatar about it and the avatar didn't look surprised.

"That is the usual reaction from any first timer to rituals. The effects are not instantaneous, they never are. However they are long lasting. Spells, on the other hand affect almost immediately but are quick to expire by comparison. You will find that the most powerful magics are powerful because of the effort to learn and implement them. Take the patronus charm for example; if you found it easy to learn through some shortcut or a lack of obstacles, it would never be as powerful or as effective as the patronus mastered despite great setbacks, delays and sheer effort."

"I'll give a more specific example. A person is told by someone who already knows the charm that they find it easier to skip focussing on a memory and just fill yourself with a powerful positive emotion. And the other person has to research through a library how to repel a dementor, research the spell, goes to a professor for help but the professor doesn't have much time to spare so lessons are sporadic at best and the person's boggart is a dementor. Once the spell was learned by both people, the second person would naturally have a more powerful patronus. It's called the Law of Effort and Obstacles."

"Is this another reason that potions are so complicated? Are there not raw ingredients that would give the same effect as the finished potion?"

"Yes to both questions. Take Re'em Blood for instance; it is the core ingredient of a strengthening solution. Taken raw, the blood gives a temporary boost in raw strength, the finished potion, which takes the better part of an hour to brew with dozens of fairly complex steps to slightly enhance the potion, gives a full week's worth of effect. The additional ingredients would theoretically only improve the blood's effectiveness by a small amount, but with the Law of Effort and Obstacles, combined with the Will and Magic of the potion, the potion is much more potent than the original ingredient."

Harry thought this over and after a minute of contemplation, decided to look into it later. At that moment, Harry was struck with a random thought, as random thoughts tend to appear.

"What was this room originally used for? I doubt that the Founders left an empty space in the middle of the seventh floor"

"Well, originally, this was the lost and found room. The elves would gather anything that couldn't be classed as rubbish in this room. The lost and found can now only be accessed by someone asking specifically for the Room of Hidden Things, as the elves originally named it. It was decided that if no one claimed an item within 6 months, the item in question would belong to anyone who claimed it. Of course this applied to any lost item in the castle. It doesn't apply to stolen items. The elves can sense if an item has been stolen and work to return it if possible. Regrettably though, some Ravenclaws have found a way around that to bully people; if they find a "misplaced" item, and they resolve to return it to its owner, then it is not considered stolen as long as it is returned before the students go home. And they can class anything they wish "misplaced" as long as it is not in the student's trunk."

"Why would those Ravenclaws look for a loophole unless they were taking someone else's things? Do you know who they were or are bullying?"

"Some of the Ravenclaws pick on a second year named Luna Lovegood. Her father is the editor of a tabloid called "The Quibbler", which espouses lots of conspiracy theories and documents the Lovegood family's search for as-yet undiscovered magical creatures, which many people staunchly refuse to entertain the notion that they might actually exist. Luna herself is thought of as an oddity. She makes no attempt to conform to her peers and while she is greatly intelligent, her belief in "make-believe creatures" has ostracised her from everyone in her house. The ringleaders of Luna's tormentors are Marietta Edgecombe and Cho Chang. Some of the rest join in so they don't"

". . . pick on them instead" Harry finished. "If you, the avatar of Hogwarts' awareness, know about this loophole, can you tell the elves how to close it?"

"No I cannot. The elves may know about the castle's awareness, but they are bound to serve the Headmaster then the Deputy, the teachers and, whilst very restricted in what they can order, the students."

"So I'd have to speak to a professor to get this fixed?"

The avatar nodded.

"I'll consider how to best resolve this."

For the rest of their time in the Room, Harry thought about the Room of Hidden things and what he might find when he inevitably took a peek inside.