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Harry Potter and the Scabbard of Excalibur [AU]

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Birdsie said:
Harry grit his teeth, and Geist must've realized that was somehow the wrong thing to say.
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There is no dialogue from Geist here, and right before this paragraph we are told that the Azkaban Prisoner disrupts Harry's connection to Geist just by arriving.

Maybe this is left over from an earlier draft?
 
[X] Another Dream [14 Gnosis]

We need to visit Snape and thank him in person for saving our lives, if he is still alive. And probably attend the other funerals and hospitalization visits if we can.
 
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[X] Another Dream
Edit: Just realised Snape saved Harry's ass back there. We should get him something, or at the very least say thank you.
 
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EternityWarrior said:
Did Dumbledore die?
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We don't know yet. But we gave him a fighting chance, and if anyone could pull that off, it's Dumbledore with the teachers as backup, in his place of power with Fawkes a call away.

I'm kind of sad we didn't get to see Fawkes square off against Fiendfyre. A phoenix fighting to protect people from the darkest reflection of fire would have been an epic scene.
 
Birdsie has deigned to reveal Heartbroken Attainment's capabilities. Basically it's the ability to call on the Dark Side of the Force magically speaking, with all that entails. With great power comes great insanity.

In short, it lets you cast spells (Charms + Transfigurations, etc,) as Heartbroken Spells. It's something a little closer to the classic Dark Arts; or if you prefer Star Wars-y terms, the Dark Side. It lets you draw upon your negative emotion to alter and change the effects of those spells into vastly more powerful but also more negative forms, with greater power and piercing, but always in a way that maims or hurts.

It's also applicable to Legilimency and Occlumency, and may eventually be broadened to cover any other sphere of magic.
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As a few examples:
- Heartbroken Disarming Charm literally disarms its foe, sending limbs flying.
- Heartbroken Jelly-Fingers Jinx permanently makes subject's fingers boneless in a way that's hard to reverse.
- Heartbroken Killing Curse kills someone so hard their entire bloodline dies out.
- Heartbroken Occlumency tortures and mind-rapes whoever tries to access your thoughts.
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But naturally, it worsens your trauma every time you draw upon it.
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Thematically Relevant Quote:
"There is a dark resource within all of us, a reservoir of hurt and pain and anger upon which we can draw when the need arises. Most of us rarely, if ever, have to delve too deeply into it. That is as it should be, because dipping into it costs and you lose a little of yourself each time. A small part of all that is good, honorable, and decent about you. Each time you use it, you have to go a little deeper, a little further down into the blackness."
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Heartbroken Attainment essentially has Harry's traumatic memories stab knives of spite into his own soul to form a crack into his darkest parts that he can draw on to immediately enhance a spell with a hundred dancing hatreds
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TaliesinSkye said:
[X] Another Dream [14 Gnosis]


If we may ask now, what does it do?
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In short, it lets you cast spells (Charms + Transfigurations, etc,) as Heartbroken Spells. It's something a little closer to the classic Dark Arts; or if you prefer Star Wars-y terms, the Dark Side. It lets you draw upon your negative emotion to alter and change the effects of those spells into vastly more powerful but also more negative forms, with greater power and piercing, but always in a way that maims or hurts. After getting enough experience with the ordinary form of wand-casting, you can apply it to almost anything, including Potions, Astrology, rituals, etc.

As a few examples:
- Heartbroken Disarming Charm literally dis-arms its foe, sending limbs flying.
- Heartbroken Jelly-Fingers Jinx permanently makes the subject's fingers boneless in a way that's hard to reverse.
- Heartbroken Mending Charm repairs an object in such a way that nearby objects will suffer permanent, irreversible damage.
- Heartbroken Water-Making Charm creates a victim-seeking tsunami of enchanted water that weakens anyone submerged, making them fall into its tides to drown.
- Heartbroken Legilimency immediately copyscans a victim's mind but renders them catatonic.
- Heartbroken Occlumency tortures and mind-rapes whoever tries to access your thoughts.
- Heartbroken Killing Curse kills someone so hard their entire bloodline dies out.
- Heartbroken Patronus Charm... well, assuming it's possible, I'll let you puzzle that one out.

By raw power, it's the strongest Attainment you'll probably ever get offered in this quest, but naturally, it worsens your trauma every time you draw upon it.
 
Birdsie said:
By raw power, it's the strongest Attainment you'll probably ever get offered in this quest, but naturally, it worsens your trauma every time you draw upon it.
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Thank you for the explanation.

I wonder, does the existence of an Attainment that channels strong negative emotions for power infer an opposite that channels strong positive emotions, with similarly reversed side effects?

Because that sounds like as good an explanation of what Lily Potter did as any. A shield made out of love that destroys your enemy so thoroughly they become your son's best friend and protector.

Edit:
I had a couple of interesting thoughts thinking about what the downside of such a 'Heart Attainment' might be. Self-sacrifice is possible, but perhaps a little too obvious. It seems like a better mirror, and a more interesting consequence, would be if each time you cast a spell with positive emotion you were a little less able to experience its negative inverse. Cast enough times with compassion, and you'll have trouble getting angry. Cast enough times with love, and you'll have difficulty feeling hatred.

That's an interesting price, I think. Many might be willing to pay a price like that, but it's not without downsides. The dark emotions like anger, hatred, and fear have their uses. Lacking in them could be dangerous and impair someone's ability to act or make good decisions.

Someone who overused such an attainment might be like a saint or a hero out of myth. Endlessly compassionate, loving, courageous, and more. But also lacking in a great many survival instincts.
 
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[X] Another Dream [14 Gnosis]

We could count it as a trauma investment for while stabing our mental weaknesses will cause San damage having our friends and family die should cause more San damage
 
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