"Come on Louie, go and bother someone else," Harry told the ginger cat on his lap, who was blocking his book. The cat didn’t budge so he had to lift him, only for the feline to jump on his lap again. "Okay, what do you want?" He decided to give up on trying to read and comply with whatever his whimsical cat wanted.
Louie simply jumped to the floor and began walking, looking back in order to see if the boy was following. Harry sometimes wondered how smart the cat really was because it sometimes acted more like a person than a feline. However, moments like this reminded the boy that Louie was a cat at heart, capricious and quite temperamental. In spite of this, he couldn't gather enough energy to actually feel exasperated by his cat's antics. Last night's ritual had been exhausting and a good night's sleep was unable to help him recover.
Absentmindedly, his finger traced the mark on his chest. Only the memory of a sharp pain reminding him that it was indeed real and not a wistful dream. Despite of the new feature on his body, Harry felt no different... Well, maybe he felt more relaxed because he could now feel his friends' magic and knew they were safe.
The pair continued walking until they were near the parlour, the noise carrying into the hallway. He took a deep breath to steel his nerves for the socialization he would be submitted for the day because that is the only reason why aunt Eleadora or his sister would have sent his cat to retrieve him – his elves loved him too much to interrupt his limited library time. However, for the life of him, Harry didn't know why he had the uncomfortable sensation of forgetting something.
He entered the room with almost inaudible steps and had the urge of facepalm when he saw a woman who was having an animated conversation with aunt Eleadora. Yes, he had definitely forgotten something important.
"Good Morning, Mrs Finch-Fletchey," Harry greeted Justin's mum, plastering a polite smile on his face.
"Harry!" The woman exclaimed and encased him in a warm hug that was not necessarily welcomed, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Katy or Aunt Katy. Never mind, we were having a fascinating conversation with Dora."
Harry could only sigh at the enthusiastic woman, yet he was unable to hide his smile. He noticed that Neville was sitting beside aunt Eleadora and that there was no one else in the room. How curious is that?
"Where are the others?" he asked Neville, who, for some strange reason, looked particularly nervous.
"They went out to train and Fleur decided to go touring with her family."
Seeing how uncomfortable Neville seemed to be, Harry sat beside him and placed a hand on his knee. His friend still seemed to be anxious, but at least his shoulders relaxed a little.
"Now that you are here, there are some things that we need to talk about," aunt Eleadora said, her usually gentle visage turned serious. "Katy finally managed to find a treatment for Neville's parents, but we need both of you to be aware that neither of them may return to how they were before the incident."
"Why are they like that?" Neville asked whisper, not daring to look away from his hands.
"We don't know," Justin's mum sighed, her brow furrowing slightly. "We ran every test you can imagine but we are still not sure why are they in that state. Their pituitary glands are in excellent conditions, by all means, the production of neurotransmitters should be normal but it is not. They only produce enough to survive," the woman took a deep breath before continuing. "Remember when I said that it was a good idea to allow your cat into the hospital? It is because you mentioned that it was your mother's cat and I wanted to see if Alice was able to remember it. Besides, even if she wasn't, pets trigger the release of dopamine and oxytocin. I was pleasantly surprised when Alice, and even Frank began reacting to Louie. However, their production of neurotransmitters only increases when they have visits or when Louie stays with them. Even then, it is not enough to be considered a treatment."
"Which means that being in a hospital with minimum interaction was one of the worst things that happened to them. Does this mean that their therapy will include some kind of socialization?" Harry asked, his mind jumping between different possible scenarios.
"Basically, along with other elements. I was considering the use of artificial neurotransmitters along with a gentle reintegration therapy. The problem is that there are no studies on long-term use of those, so it is a rather risky gamble. However, we have another option. The potions in the magical world tend to be less harmful with long term use than the drugs in the muggle world."
"There is no specific potion to treat Neville's parents, but I can find a way of making them more effective," aunt Eleadora promised. They seemed to have everything planned out, so what they really wanted from him, Harry wondered. Apparently, it showed in his expression. "I will need many ingredients that can only be found in the sanctuary and in the greenhouses for experimentation."
"You have free access, aunt Eleadora," was Harry's automatic response.
"I was also wondering if you could assign two of your little guys to Frank and Alice. Preferably, if they are familiar with them." Ah, so that was it. He was particularly protective of his elves and Justin's mum knew so.
"If there are volunteers, I don't mind. But, wouldn't the Longbottom elf be better?"
"Ehm, the thing is that Babbly is bonded with grandma so he won't keep the secret," Neville answered, looking a bit sheepish.
"It seems simple enough, and even though we are not sure what the results will be, I am hopeful," Harry said after a second of deliberation, still not understanding why his aunt wanted him present in the conversation when everything was sorted out already.
"The thing, dear, is that we are basically committing major treason against the Statue of Secrecy," Eleadora explained with a heavy sigh.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Aha! So that was the problem, it was almost enough to make him laugh. Almost. "You always say that I need to act more like a teenager and give you a headache every once in a while."
"I meant getting a body modification, colouring your hair, or maybe sneaking out to make rituals with your friends. The normal stuff, not committing a major felony," his aunt sighed, though there was a small smile playing on her lips. "I hate to say this, but you inherited James' penchant for rule-breaking."
"And my mum's brains to not get in trouble for it, so don't worry," Harry told his aunt, smiling at the exasperated woman. Justin's mum looked far too calm for some strange reason. "Mrs Flinch-Fletchey, would you like to go to the greenhouses? I'm sure Justin is over there, cataloguing the properties of all the plants. Again."
"I already told you to call me Katy. Never mind, let's go!"
Harry pulled a smiling Neville with them while he explained a bit about the basics of potion-making to Justin's mum. Aunt Eleadora followed close behind, muttering about incorrigible Potters.
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The sharp chime of the opening lift echoed in the dark hallway, breaking the calm silence. The large group finally arrived at the end of the hallway, where a plain door opened, revealing another room. Oil lamps in the walls faintly illuminated the circular room with twelve handless doors. Silently, the group divided itself and entered the closest rooms.
From the moment Harry stepped inside, he could feel the violent magic emanating from the room and forced himself to take a deep breath before reacting. Luna was right, time turners were a crime against Mother Magic. He could almost taste the rotten aura that they emanated. Luna was beside him, panting heavily, and he suspected that she had lost all colour but her mask was in place and he wasn't able to confirm anything.
"Take her out," he ordered Blaise, who complied without a word. In any other situation, Luna may have put on a fight, but not today.
Harry had sent his elves to drug all the unspeakables on the morning shift in order to avoid needless casualties. Then, his elves simply popped them to the coffee room that the unspeakable used. From thereon, he simply loaned one of the workers wands in order for the lift to take them to level nine. For some reason, his elves were still unable to feel the place, which meant they couldn't safely pop in. The aurors patrolling the lower levels were still jumpy because of the previous attack, but they were expecting a violent raid, not a silent infiltration so the security was not present in the last three levels. It was awfully careless of them and terribly convenient for him. The only problem was that they didn't have much time.
Ares and Mars were in charge of creating a distraction that would give them enough time for the place to be utterly destroyed. Thinking about it, that decision may have been a miscalculation on Harry's side. Especially considering their arsonist tendencies. Oh, well, too late to regret it now.
He raised his wand and created a barrier around him, then, he willed his wand to create enough fiendfyre to destroy everything in the room. It was, ironically enough, refreshing. As the time turners burnt, he could feel his magic relaxing and the toxic aura of the place dissipating. He didn't allow the fire to die down until there was nothing but cinders left. Then, he banished them and cast a bombarda to finish destroying the room. At that moment, he realized he might be just like any other teenager, releasing stress through aggression and mindless destruction. Such an invigorating experience should be repeated, he would find a way of doing so in less life-threatening conditions.
The moment he stepped out of the room, the door crumbled and only plain stone was left in its place. Curious.
"Harry, we can't destroy this room," George told him between pants and signalled the only door left.
When he entered, the sight that greeted him was a bit comical. Many of his friends trying to fire curses at the still beating hearts on the wall, only for a shield to absorb them and return them in earnest. Perhaps he would have been more amused had he not felt the wrongness of the place. It was not inherently evil as the time turner room, it was simply unnatural.
It may have to do with the beating hearts, or the fountain in the middle of the room that contained a liquid that looked suspiciously similar to Amortentia. It was simply wrong, yet familiar. The shields that the hearts were able to create resembled the warm protection that his mother had left behind. Suddenly, it clicked.
"Step back," he whispered, yet his friends managed to hear him.
Taking a deep breath, he pocketed his wand. He felt his magic thrumming in his core, trying to help him. He willed his magic to clash with the magic of the room. For any onlooker, it would simply appear as if he was standing in the room. However, any magical worth its salt would immediately feel the violent clash of magic, viciously fighting against each other. The aura that the invisible battle cast was so oppressive that the other witnesses had been forced to leave the room.
Harry felt his muscles trembling in exertion and sweat pearl his forehead. He willed his magic to give one last push and the protection around the hearts crumbled at last. Yet, he was unable to erase that sense of wrongness that began suffocating him. Without a thought, he took out his wand and willed the fiendfyre to consume the room. He walked back outside, fighting with his body to keep on walking despite of the dizziness.
The world stopped spinning once Harry was back in the lift, with Neville supporting him.
"How long?" Harry asked after taking a deep breath, trying to regain control of his body.
"We have ten minutes," Theo confirmed, his wand was ready on his hand.
"Good."
The chime of the lift signalled the Court's arrival to the eighth level. Immediately they began working. Theo and George began carving runes on the floor while the others worked on raising shields for the room. Harry was still leaning on Neville while slowly recovering.
"What happened?" asked Daphne in a hurried breath.
"I am not sure myself," Harry muttered, containing his desire to sigh.
"What was that room?" Blaise asked, approaching the group.
"According to the papers, it is the Love chamber," Harry said, almost snorting at the notion. "They studied self-sacrificial magic, not love."
"How do you know that?" Harry could swear that, under the mask, Daphne was frowning.
"I could feel it. It's the same protection that my mother left behind."
Harry leaned back on the wall, hinting his friends that he no longer wanted to talk about the matter. He felt drained and only a good nap would restore his energy, but that was not the only reason. What happened in that room was something that not even he could explain. He could feel it in his magic. That room was wrong.
Unlike the warm protection that his parents left behind, that magic was unstable, pugnacious, and simply wrong. It was not natural.
He had no idea how they had obtained all those hearts and the magic attached to them, but the protection was not meant for them, hence the unstable magic. That was his only theory for the moment. Maybe in a future he would think more about this, but not now.
"Harry, there are persons in the tenth level," Luna whispered and the teen could almost hear her question at the matter. What should they do?
"They deserve it," Neville answered instead, there was no hesitation in his voice. Harry was sure that behind his mask, his friend's face was set in stone. It was hard to reconcile the gentle side of Neville with his ruthless nature. A strange dichotomy that he liked more than a little.
"We both know of the experiments that take place in the tenth level, it's for the best," Harry decided to tell Luna.
"I know."
Harry only patted the girl's arm at her despondent sigh. He was sure that there was something she was not telling him, but if it was important Luna would tell him when she was ready. Otherwise, she was her own person and he would respect her privacy.
"It is done," Fleur announced, helping a tired Draco to walk in a straight line.
"Let's go home then."