Risky Magic

By TeraWatt

Chapter 01

Harry had come across the room of requirements in his third year. He had been wandering aimlessly for about an hour having been released from the hospital wing after the Quidditch match. One might wonder why he was alone when he was rarely seen away from Ron and Hermione. As it happened, it was a Hogsmead weekend, and even if it wasn't, Harry wanted to be left alone.

He had never felt so helpless. Those dementors seemed to have taken a particular liking to him and he had no way to defend himself. Come to think of it, he had known about magic for three years and each year he had found himself in terrifyingly dangerous situations multiple times each year. He knew for a fact that the murdering psychopath that gave him his scar was quite alive, even if he currently lacked a body. He could come back to his powers at anytime for all Harry knew. And the only defensive magic he knew was a dis-arming charm.

'Enough is enough' Harry thought. 'I find myself in several extremely dangerous situations each year. I NEED to learn how to defend myself. I NEED someone to teach me. I – did that door just appear out of thin air?'

Harry was admittedly curious. Whilst he had known doors to sometimes masquerade as walls or vise-versa, he had never seen one just appear before. He walked inside and saw a sitting room with some couches and a coffee table.

A man appeared in the room and took a seat on a couch.

"Welcome to the room of requirement Apprentice. Take a seat."

Once Harry recovered from the shock of seeing a man appear out of thin air, he took the proffered seat.

"May I ask your name, Apprentice?" the man asked.

"I'm Harry Potter, sir. May I ask yours?" Harry replied.

The man smiled. "I am a physical representation of Godric Gryffindor as Hogwarts knew him."

"What is the Room of Requirements? And why do you call me apprentice?" Harry asked.

"This room is known as the Come-and-Go room or the Room of Requirements as this is the most magically potent place in the castle. And considering Hogwarts sits on the most magically potent area of the British Isles, this is by far the most useful place in the castle."

"Useful?"

"Yes. The castle directs those who truly need the room to it as the room is always equipped for the person's needs, within the laws of magic of course. And I called you apprentice because the Sorting Hat deemed you so. You possess the qualities that each of the Founders valued."

The room echoed for a moment with the Sorting Hat's voice "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting. . . .So where shall I put you?"

Godric continued "In times past you would have been tutored personally by the Headmaster and your personal talents would have been fostered, but over time the Board of Governors pushed most of their duties onto the Headmaster who now doesn't have time to fulfil his own duties. As it stands now, the Board of Governors now sit around bickering over the school budget trying to stuff their pockets as full as possible leaving the school to flounder. We once had seven Masters to teach EACH core subject, the Headmaster would tutor five or six Apprentices each year, the library had its own floor of the castle, and there were over twenty elective classes. This was once the world's premier magic academy. People would come from Asia and Africa for a chance to attend. Rowena would cry at the state of the school as it stands today. The Equinoxes and Solstices pass with not one ritual. There are maybe fourteen animagi in Britain. Blood-magic is almost a lost art and at this moment there are over one hundred and twenty death wraiths laying siege to the grounds. There is so much untapped magic built up in the castle that the staircases are in a constant state of malfunction. This room was not designed by the founders. It appeared by itself as a necessary outlet; to bleed off the magic."

The Godric avatar paused for a moment before continuing. "The magic build-up is getting dangerous."

"Dangerous? What do you mean?"

"When the school was operating correctly, the magic wasn't overloading the school. Each magic capable child would have a life expectancy of one hundred years, give or take. Now with all these children being exposed to dangerous levels of magic, life expectancy has doubled but now, each wizard and witch will find it difficult to conceive a child and each child they do have is in danger of having no magic. Each generation that is exposed after that is in even more danger. The magic build up is damaging. The staff and students used to perform rituals to claim some of the magic as it were and build up their core and abilities, thereby draining excess magic. Now the school is trying to bleed it off by itself. The fireplaces self-lighting, the moving staircases, the great hall candles and ceiling, the doors and walls moving or disappearing. The school has even gained a sentience it didn't have before but it isn't enough."

"What can be done?" Harry asked wide eyed. "Can I help?"

Godric grinned.

"Harry, the room opened for you. You had a Need that Hogwarts is very eager to help you with. You needed to learn how to defend yourself. You needed someone to teach you. Hogwarts is beyond willing. This will help immensely as it will drain a lot of the excess magic. And once we're done, you will know how to help further. This is going to be a lot of fun." Godric said with an ever widening smile. "Are you interested?"

Harry grinned as well. "Yes I am."