Harry Potter and the Scabbard of Excalibur [AU]

Final Ring Cometh

I am concerned.

"About my growing power?" Harry chuckled to himself, wand bobbing gently, as he cracked open an eye.

It had been a most productive week - almost unimaginably, supernaturally so - as though some ineffable force from the beyond had filled him with a genius that transcended even his usual aptitude.

An incantation barely even muttered caused a spurt of ink to shoot from his wand. It splattered across a paper, falling in such a manner as to fill its empty tables with astronomical observations. Another spell made the paper translucent, showing the other piece of parchment lying underneath with metaphysical correlations. A cheat sheet of sorts, that Harry figured out to accelerate his divination to even higher speeds. A horoscope that used to take him an hour to complete was now doable in a handful of minutes, maybe even less than a minute if Harry wasn't particularly obsessed with the details. A simple glance at the sky could predict the general vibe of the day.

Maybe. I was thinking more about how you don't need a telescope anymore - or the right time of day - to know what the configuration of the heavens is like. Geist paused, peering through Harry's own eyes at the paper he'd made. Hm. Pluto is concerning.

No, Harry disagreed. Another jet of black ink on free parchment to the side produced an image of the solar system; Harry drew a complex array of geometric lines showing that Pluto would be obscured from having completely direct access to the sun by an asteroid field close to midnight tomorrow. A follow-up trigonometric function examined the temporal utility factor of its kismetic counter-resonance, and showed that Saturn's novasphere would interfere at several points; thereby demonstrating it wouldn't significantly affect fate in the upcoming fortnight. See?

Mhmm. I didn't understand half of that, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

Whatever.

Harry rolled up his sleeves, finished the horoscopes for every major person of interest in the school, and squinted at one of them. A concerning and unexpected pattern had developed over Headmaster Dumbledore's. Many inauspicious signs; misfortune, death, and pestilence. It seemed that some sequence of events would soon culminate in an event of extreme adversity for the Headmaster. It was almost inevitable, and it'd happen sooner rather than later; by the middle of May at its latest.

Well, he probably knows, Geist figured, But maybe we should warn him.

I'll roll up the horoscope and owl it to him anonymously, Harry decided, then thought for a moment longer, eyes narrowing in contemplation. He rolled over onto his back, staring at the ceiling. Is there any way that he might be able to tell who made this horoscope?

No. Although if he examined your wand, he'd probably be able to tell you happened to cast a bunch of Charms and spells to make ink tonight. And wouldn't that be suspicious.

Harry nodded, in both understanding and agreement, then flipped back over to his stomach. He rolled up the Headmaster's astrology sheet, hoping that he'd never be forced to explain why he randomly filled out horoscopes for various people that he knew.

After climbing up the steps of the West Tower under the guise of his Invisibility Cloak, grabbing a random owl that looked not-busy, and gingerly directing the agitated bird to send his unsigned 'letter,' Harry walked back down the Owlery steps while ruminating on the events of the past couple of months, particularly his encounter in the Chamber of Secrets. He didn't know enough about the random Azkaban escapee to compose anything resembling a divinatory sheet for him, nor perform anything that'd constitute an attempt at tracking, but he was stuck thinking about his failed duel and how he might've acted instead to win.

Hey, can I ask you a question?

Always.

Harry avoided rolling his eyes. He didn't want Geist sulking for the rest of the evening.

There's something I don't... really, get about dueling.

What is there to not 'get?' It's a simple concept, Harry. Ugh, fine. Allow me to explain - when daddy wizard and mommy wizard really, really hate each other-

No. No, not that sort of, erm, dueling, Harry replied with a cringe. I'm referring to the, uh, practice - the discipline, rather than the social custom.

Oh. And what's that?

Yeah, so... If the Stunning Spell is the most efficient and straightforward method to defeat an opponent non-lethally, then conventional logic would then dictate that, in order to be the best possible duelist in the world, you'd want to do nothing else but practice your Stunners until they're perfect and a hundred percent reliable, and you can cast them wandlessly and without an incantation, and with perfect aim and maximum power. So, uh... why do people not do this? Another example of wizards being idiots?

Actually, no.

Harry blinked and sputtered in disbelief, misplacing a foot on a step of the stairs, almost alerting a passing Ravenclaw girl to his presence; the Cloak, magically, tethered itself to his body and kept itself from slipping off; a single length of its fabric latched onto the length of a torch to prevent him from clattering down the stairs like a barrel hurled from the top. He managed to stabilize himself and continue walking down at an accelerated rate, though still in mild shell-shock - Geist denying himself an opportunity to berate wizard stupidity was an unspoken rarity.

Believe me, I, too, was shocked to discover this myself. The reason is actually very simple: the main defense against a Stunner, the Shield Charm, has certain limits. It needs to be modified and recalibrated, often on the fly, to better protect against different targets. As an example, a Shield that's set to protect against Stunners, cast by a competent and powerful wizard, would be able to tank a dozen of them at the same time, but might crumble and pop instantly to a single rock propelled at the speed of an arrow, also breaking the wizard's concentration and requiring him to recast; an opening which either forces him to attack faster than the enemy, dodge, or recast his shield spell and hope this time he'll predict what they'll fling his way. As such, having some diversity available to you actually bolsters your offense greatly in duels.

Huh...

Yeah. A common tactic involves pelting your opponent with, say, fire spells - and they'll begin casting spells to defend against fire and other stuff like that - and that's when you switch up and use a Stunning Charm, or a Drilling Jinx, or what else. That's why the Deflection Charm, which allows you to deflect away any incoming spell by intercepting it with your wand, is the absolute greatest defense for a competent duelist - it's a hundred percent reliable, and lets you rapidly switch from defense to offense as you don't have to effortfully lower your shield to attack the enemy. On the other hand, it's more difficult, since... well, you actually have to time your parry right.

The Codex Intervallum on Harry's belt shuddered once and made a sound like a quill scratching away at a length of parchment, and then a page being flipped.

Harry immediately reached for it and started peering through the ongoing conversations; Ron and Hermione were playing tic-tac-toe earlier, but it seemed like Neville had written a private message to Harry; he'd found and jotted down the final imperative rune needed to get their array active. All that was left was to trigger it.

Harry smirked.

'I am on my way.'

---

As someone who committed to House Hufflepuff, you may now cast your selection of the House Fealty Perk of the Final Stage. An incredible achievement for someone in their first year. Unlike with previous perks, however, you may select any number of options here.

[ ] This Is The End - The arrogance of Hufflepuff is thus: Fairness, before everything else.

*On a metaphysical level, you are now incapable of acting 'unfairly' and placing individuals before the 'whole.' You will be a completely, ruthlessly rational, and supremely diligent moral rationalist. All who share in you will know this as truth.
*A bright yellow streak, like a bolt of lightning, appears in your hair. When casting powerful magic, your eyes flash with yellow light and intimidating energy.
*May derail the plot slightly.

[ ] Black Out The Sky - The fundamental truth of Hufflepuff is thus: All reality must end; our collective duty is to forestall what must happen.

*If your Magic Power is higher than 3.0, lose .5 Magic Power; if lower than 3.0, lose .25 Magic Power, for every time this option is picked.
*Allows you to select any other House Fealty Perk of any of the Stages that came before. (Only for your own House, naturally.)
*May be picked up multiple times.

[ ] All Things Must Die - The kairos of Hufflepuff is thus: Never forget the past, lest you be doomed to repeat it. Over, and over again, and over again, and over again...

*If you suffered from nightmares or an incapability to remember your dreams, you may now remember them, including retroactive memory, and remain cognizant while in them - as though lucid dreaming.
*---Mental Stability.
*All they'll know is pain. Over again. And over again.

[ ] Forfeiture - Do not pick anything here.