Harry Potter and the Scabbard of Excalibur [AU]
As in plain mental exhaustion from sustained casting, but I assume Harry would have backups too like a potion. We can always go for a personal visit after the Grindylows have gotten the bulk of the exploration out of the way. The mermen wouldn't necessarily be able to keep track of all the wild Grindylows - which are numerous, and assume the summoned ones are local? We can also ignore the mermen for now and leave them to Harry - the point is get a lay of the land, or rather the lake.
Basically the reason I'm pushing for this cause I'm a fan of bulk of our effort done in the background without requiring our direct attention. Frees us up to do the other things. And for the rare chance to use our Dark Arts safely. It really doesn't cost us anything to summon a few demons when we have unused covenant strength anyways. Also pulling unusual stunts is delicious
I don't think that "sustained casting" is really much of a thing.
Worse comes to worst, there are consumable substances which can give you the ability to breathe underwater, and Harry is fairly rich and can probably just order them to school.
I really don't see Harry going underwater for a couple of hours at most as a huge issue.
Grindylows won't be taken as seriously either, and won't be able to communicate more complex ideas without some major prep time on our end.
It just doesn't seem to be all that time-efficient to do all of these things as you've claimed is all.
The point of the Grindylows isn't to play ambassador to merpeople my man, it's just so they scout out the lake. Have them out when Harry's personally there then. Why do you want him to explore out the entire lake himself when he can get his minions to do it in his stead and then have Harry only go to points of interest?
Doesn't matter now though - we're tabling this for later I guess.
Arrow of Time
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Arrow of Time
An Herbology lesson in the field. As the sunlight warmed the fields of northern Scotland, Professor Sprout elected to herd the mixed Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff class of students into the periphery of the Forbidden Forest in search of fantastic and exotic flowers and fungi. The team to gather the best crop was going to enjoy more points.
"Yes, I've done the Amato Animo Animato Animagus incantation this morning. You don't have to beat me up over it."
"Good."
"First, it's the saliva-drenched mandrake leaf, then gathering a bunch of stupid morning dew, and I have to keep doing this incantation every morning and not forget about it, or else I'll have to do it over again. Becoming an Animagus sure is annoying."
"Don't forget dangerous. I've heard of people attempting this and transforming into half-human half-animal abominations, with no known cure."
Frustratingly, there weren't many Animagi in Hufflepuff. It seemed that for all of its inclusiveness and humility, none of its members were particularly interested in such esoteric fields as self-transformation, or the deeper studies of forms. And there didn't seem to be that many Animagi to start with; according to Ron, he was able to count the total number of Animagi he knew on the fingers of one hand, and a majority of those were Hogwarts professors. Likewise in Neville and Hermione's case, and none of Harry's friends were interested in studying and mastering the transformation themselves, so he was alone in this pursuit.
Gabriel Tate, a senior prefect, informally in charge of keeping the younger students in Hufflepuff happy, oblivious, and productive, sternly informed Harry that McGonagall's demands were correct, stated for his own benefit, and even if he wanted to be a secret Animagus, he should focus his efforts on studying Transfiguration in order to perform the rituals involved in a manner that was both safe and hygienic. He warned Harry of the myriad of tragic and painful fates that befell youthful wizards and witches that sought to overstep beyond their appointed magical skill. But that sounded boring and stupid, so Harry had other ideas.
As Geist looked on and commented with dry humor, he'd sought out a tutor of his own, using Astrological rites to divine the identity of an individual perfectly aligned to his own interests, and willing to guide him on the path ahead. And such an individual emerged soon thereafter.
"Yeah, whatever," Harry said, with a bright smile. "I can't wait until I'm able to turn into a phoenix."
"That's your takeaway here, huh?" Cho sagged a little.
It was a surprise that a Ravenclaw student his own age was an unregistered Animagus, and experienced enough to perform the transformation wandlessly, but Harry found that fate had an interesting way of twisting its paths and surprising him. Apparently, she'd learned and undergone the Animagus transformation as a young child, identically to her own mother, and her mother's mother before her, and so on until probably the beginning of their bloodline. Imagine her surprise when Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and recently infamous celebrity and target of bullying asked her about the entire thing out of nowhere.
"Sure," Harry agreed amicably, intent on changing the topic. "Anyway, Cho, I have something of an odd question."
"Shoot."
"Imagine you're schizophrenic-"
"Oookay..." Mission failed, she was already weirded out.
"-and, like, you have a second personality, right? And it's this suspicious, paranoid, annoying person, talking constantly in your head that keeps second-guessing you and trying to spook you by saying odd things, like that you have schizophrenia."
"Uh-huh, I follow." She nodded absently, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"And then the second personality, it says you're insane, and not-" Harry realized something and stopped. "Wait, no, I explained wrong. Imagine that you have a fragment of another person's soul in you, and every now and then, their undead voice whispers secrets to you. Sometimes, in your sleep. Sometimes, in the classroom. But instead of correctly understanding its own sapience, this fragment believes your soul is gradually eating away parts of it, or maybe already did a long time ago, when you were born, and now you're kind of just insane and schizophrenic and have a second personality in you. But that's weird, right? Since then you'd just be telling yourself that you're insane, but you'd be telling yourself that through layers of insanity. It doesn't make sense, it's like a paradox - a set that contains every set contains itself. You know what I mean?"
He looked over at her, eyes searching for compassion.
"Harry, I don't know that much about those potions you take before sleep, but maybe lay them off," Cho said. "I don't think they're doing you any good."
"Nah. I think they're pretty good for me. I used to have nightmares before the potions. I'd constantly see an extremely advanced civilization of hyperborean wizard-kings fall over and over to a storm of green lightning, only to be tormented for eternity in a black void."
"Wow."
"I know! Insane, right?"
His query didn't inspire confidence, as Cho didn't respond. She looked down and momentarily bent over to carelessly pick out some mugwort, throwing the small plant in their shared wicker basket that floated behind them. The enchanted basket moved to catch the herbs.
A crimson flare rocketed into the sky with a sudden whistle of startling noise, around three hundred or so paces to their left. A sign to conclude the exercise and return back to the main grounds before it got dark.
"Oh, how much do I pay?" Harry asked.
"Same as last time. Ten galleons."
He coughed up the appropriate sum, alongside the alchemical pills he'd promised. She looked at them distastefully for a moment. Cho conjured some clean water in the palm of her hand and swallowed them in a single gulp. Immediately, the contents of their conversation faded away from her mind, to return only upon a specific trigger phrase being spoken, one they'd agreed upon when hashing out the details of the Animagus training idea. Harry, meanwhile, took a couple of moments and restructured his own memories to put the conversation as deep down as possible without completely forgetting about its existence.
"Talk to you later, Harry," Cho said, casual but distant.
"Yeah, see you." He copied the basket's form using a spell, conjuring one for himself based on its schema, and they split up the herbs in a mostly fair manner and moved to return back to their own teams.
My God, Geist laughed, as Harry stepped back through the forested twilight. It's insane how insane you are. I know that wizards are supposed to be crazy by nature - not a single one I've ever met that's healthy or well-adjusted by any definition of those words - but you're something else.
"I'll prove that you exist, eventually," Harry said.
You're actually fucking crazy, kid. Like, completely insane. You're hellbent on proving to yourself that your split personality, that calls upon subconscious memories from a half-decayed soul fragment and stimulates defragmented intellectual function has some underlying independence from you, even when it's convinced itself that it doesn't actually exist, Geist said. It makes sense you'd hire a squirrel Animagus as your private confidante and therapist; squirrels like nuts, and you're nuttier than Nutella.
"If you're so convinced that you don't exist, why keep referring to yourself in the first person?"
I don't know. Maybe I'm your tulpa or something, or maybe you're not insane enough to confuse yourself constantly. How about you focus on becoming an Animagus instead of questioning a partition of yourself that has enough experience to call upon to recognize the absence of definite qualia?
"Whatever. You're a stupid brain tumor, and you always will be." Harry quieted the ghost forcefully.
---
Alright, good news - you're learning the Animagus transformation. Illegally, and in secret, I might add.
Bad news, you might be nuttier than Nutella, or maybe Geist is still wrong. Who knows, and how would you recognize the difference between yourself and a spirit that's half-melded into you anyway? This sounds more like an issue of applied psychology and philosophy than magic.
Harry unfortunately isn't willing to delve back into the Chamber of Secrets at the current juncture. He doesn't see much of a need. He's found some awesome stuff down there on his first visit, but most of the gizmos he found were too advanced for his level, and he doubts that's changed over a single year. He's already handed over the notes on the sky diamond over to Ornias, but the demon had little fortune in puzzling out Salazar Slytherin's personal studies. Besides, Harry doubts that Geist would cooperate with the Parseltongue necessary to grant him entry, given his recent crankiness.
If you wish to finish the Animagus transformation in a timely fashion (before summer), you'll need to devote some time away from studying for the last straight of the year, and that's going to impact your scores in most subjects. As a matter of fact, your yearly grade in the given subject might suffer a decrease in whatever subject you choose to focus less on. The question is then, naturally, where do you cut your attention away from? As Transfiguration is pretty essential, Harry's a little wary of reducing his attention to it, nd learning less of Astronomy isn't an option with your upcoming Astronomy OWL. As such, that leaves the following:
[ ] Herbology
[ ] Potions
[ ] History of Magic
[ ] DADA
[ ] Charms
Most of your educators will be disappointed to see your sudden lack of progress. Particularly, Professor Snape might turn up his nose at you and take away a bunch of points from Hufflepuff for perceived failures or laziness (Harry's not confronted him about the whole undeath thing, and is planning to do that only at the end of the year, when it's safest.) In the other subjects, your teachers are Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Sirius, all of whom have decently high hopes for you. As such, that leaves History as the only subject where you wouldn't be significantly disappointing someone.
Also, on the plus side, you're about to remove the curses, as the window of opportunity is open soon enough.
Anyway, your free time is mostly unchanged. Decide what you'll spend it on:
[ ] Summoning Demons - As the Auror presence in the castle will be significantly reduced over the summer, it's now safest to increase your network of evil spirits. Put a bunch of them to work, maybe search the Black Lake, scour the Forbidden Forest, and do some redecorating in your private spots over the castle.
[ ] Preparing for the Ministry Break-in - As Geist had explained, breaking into the Department of Mysteries is no small task. He'd never managed to do it casually in his life, but he also didn't have the massive boon that is your Cloak of Invisibility. He's confident that a couple of months will suffice to let you break in without trouble.
[ ] Untracing Your Wand - There are some pretty simple methods for removing the Trace, but they require time and skill. You're at roughly the appropriate level of magical talent that you can remove it from your primary wand.
[ ] Write-in
An Herbology lesson in the field. As the sunlight warmed the fields of northern Scotland, Professor Sprout elected to herd the mixed Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff class of students into the periphery of the Forbidden Forest in search of fantastic and exotic flowers and fungi. The team to gather the best crop was going to enjoy more points.
"Yes, I've done the Amato Animo Animato Animagus incantation this morning. You don't have to beat me up over it."
"Good."
"First, it's the saliva-drenched mandrake leaf, then gathering a bunch of stupid morning dew, and I have to keep doing this incantation every morning and not forget about it, or else I'll have to do it over again. Becoming an Animagus sure is annoying."
"Don't forget dangerous. I've heard of people attempting this and transforming into half-human half-animal abominations, with no known cure."
Frustratingly, there weren't many Animagi in Hufflepuff. It seemed that for all of its inclusiveness and humility, none of its members were particularly interested in such esoteric fields as self-transformation, or the deeper studies of forms. And there didn't seem to be that many Animagi to start with; according to Ron, he was able to count the total number of Animagi he knew on the fingers of one hand, and a majority of those were Hogwarts professors. Likewise in Neville and Hermione's case, and none of Harry's friends were interested in studying and mastering the transformation themselves, so he was alone in this pursuit.
Gabriel Tate, a senior prefect, informally in charge of keeping the younger students in Hufflepuff happy, oblivious, and productive, sternly informed Harry that McGonagall's demands were correct, stated for his own benefit, and even if he wanted to be a secret Animagus, he should focus his efforts on studying Transfiguration in order to perform the rituals involved in a manner that was both safe and hygienic. He warned Harry of the myriad of tragic and painful fates that befell youthful wizards and witches that sought to overstep beyond their appointed magical skill. But that sounded boring and stupid, so Harry had other ideas.
As Geist looked on and commented with dry humor, he'd sought out a tutor of his own, using Astrological rites to divine the identity of an individual perfectly aligned to his own interests, and willing to guide him on the path ahead. And such an individual emerged soon thereafter.
"Yeah, whatever," Harry said, with a bright smile. "I can't wait until I'm able to turn into a phoenix."
"That's your takeaway here, huh?" Cho sagged a little.
It was a surprise that a Ravenclaw student his own age was an unregistered Animagus, and experienced enough to perform the transformation wandlessly, but Harry found that fate had an interesting way of twisting its paths and surprising him. Apparently, she'd learned and undergone the Animagus transformation as a young child, identically to her own mother, and her mother's mother before her, and so on until probably the beginning of their bloodline. Imagine her surprise when Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and recently infamous celebrity and target of bullying asked her about the entire thing out of nowhere.
"Sure," Harry agreed amicably, intent on changing the topic. "Anyway, Cho, I have something of an odd question."
"Shoot."
"Imagine you're schizophrenic-"
"Oookay..." Mission failed, she was already weirded out.
"-and, like, you have a second personality, right? And it's this suspicious, paranoid, annoying person, talking constantly in your head that keeps second-guessing you and trying to spook you by saying odd things, like that you have schizophrenia."
"Uh-huh, I follow." She nodded absently, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"And then the second personality, it says you're insane, and not-" Harry realized something and stopped. "Wait, no, I explained wrong. Imagine that you have a fragment of another person's soul in you, and every now and then, their undead voice whispers secrets to you. Sometimes, in your sleep. Sometimes, in the classroom. But instead of correctly understanding its own sapience, this fragment believes your soul is gradually eating away parts of it, or maybe already did a long time ago, when you were born, and now you're kind of just insane and schizophrenic and have a second personality in you. But that's weird, right? Since then you'd just be telling yourself that you're insane, but you'd be telling yourself that through layers of insanity. It doesn't make sense, it's like a paradox - a set that contains every set contains itself. You know what I mean?"
He looked over at her, eyes searching for compassion.
"Harry, I don't know that much about those potions you take before sleep, but maybe lay them off," Cho said. "I don't think they're doing you any good."
"Nah. I think they're pretty good for me. I used to have nightmares before the potions. I'd constantly see an extremely advanced civilization of hyperborean wizard-kings fall over and over to a storm of green lightning, only to be tormented for eternity in a black void."
"Wow."
"I know! Insane, right?"
His query didn't inspire confidence, as Cho didn't respond. She looked down and momentarily bent over to carelessly pick out some mugwort, throwing the small plant in their shared wicker basket that floated behind them. The enchanted basket moved to catch the herbs.
A crimson flare rocketed into the sky with a sudden whistle of startling noise, around three hundred or so paces to their left. A sign to conclude the exercise and return back to the main grounds before it got dark.
"Oh, how much do I pay?" Harry asked.
"Same as last time. Ten galleons."
He coughed up the appropriate sum, alongside the alchemical pills he'd promised. She looked at them distastefully for a moment. Cho conjured some clean water in the palm of her hand and swallowed them in a single gulp. Immediately, the contents of their conversation faded away from her mind, to return only upon a specific trigger phrase being spoken, one they'd agreed upon when hashing out the details of the Animagus training idea. Harry, meanwhile, took a couple of moments and restructured his own memories to put the conversation as deep down as possible without completely forgetting about its existence.
"Talk to you later, Harry," Cho said, casual but distant.
"Yeah, see you." He copied the basket's form using a spell, conjuring one for himself based on its schema, and they split up the herbs in a mostly fair manner and moved to return back to their own teams.
My God, Geist laughed, as Harry stepped back through the forested twilight. It's insane how insane you are. I know that wizards are supposed to be crazy by nature - not a single one I've ever met that's healthy or well-adjusted by any definition of those words - but you're something else.
"I'll prove that you exist, eventually," Harry said.
You're actually fucking crazy, kid. Like, completely insane. You're hellbent on proving to yourself that your split personality, that calls upon subconscious memories from a half-decayed soul fragment and stimulates defragmented intellectual function has some underlying independence from you, even when it's convinced itself that it doesn't actually exist, Geist said. It makes sense you'd hire a squirrel Animagus as your private confidante and therapist; squirrels like nuts, and you're nuttier than Nutella.
"If you're so convinced that you don't exist, why keep referring to yourself in the first person?"
I don't know. Maybe I'm your tulpa or something, or maybe you're not insane enough to confuse yourself constantly. How about you focus on becoming an Animagus instead of questioning a partition of yourself that has enough experience to call upon to recognize the absence of definite qualia?
"Whatever. You're a stupid brain tumor, and you always will be." Harry quieted the ghost forcefully.
---
Alright, good news - you're learning the Animagus transformation. Illegally, and in secret, I might add.
Bad news, you might be nuttier than Nutella, or maybe Geist is still wrong. Who knows, and how would you recognize the difference between yourself and a spirit that's half-melded into you anyway? This sounds more like an issue of applied psychology and philosophy than magic.
Harry unfortunately isn't willing to delve back into the Chamber of Secrets at the current juncture. He doesn't see much of a need. He's found some awesome stuff down there on his first visit, but most of the gizmos he found were too advanced for his level, and he doubts that's changed over a single year. He's already handed over the notes on the sky diamond over to Ornias, but the demon had little fortune in puzzling out Salazar Slytherin's personal studies. Besides, Harry doubts that Geist would cooperate with the Parseltongue necessary to grant him entry, given his recent crankiness.
If you wish to finish the Animagus transformation in a timely fashion (before summer), you'll need to devote some time away from studying for the last straight of the year, and that's going to impact your scores in most subjects. As a matter of fact, your yearly grade in the given subject might suffer a decrease in whatever subject you choose to focus less on. The question is then, naturally, where do you cut your attention away from? As Transfiguration is pretty essential, Harry's a little wary of reducing his attention to it, nd learning less of Astronomy isn't an option with your upcoming Astronomy OWL. As such, that leaves the following:
[ ] Herbology
[ ] Potions
[ ] History of Magic
[ ] DADA
[ ] Charms
Most of your educators will be disappointed to see your sudden lack of progress. Particularly, Professor Snape might turn up his nose at you and take away a bunch of points from Hufflepuff for perceived failures or laziness (Harry's not confronted him about the whole undeath thing, and is planning to do that only at the end of the year, when it's safest.) In the other subjects, your teachers are Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, and Sirius, all of whom have decently high hopes for you. As such, that leaves History as the only subject where you wouldn't be significantly disappointing someone.
Also, on the plus side, you're about to remove the curses, as the window of opportunity is open soon enough.
Anyway, your free time is mostly unchanged. Decide what you'll spend it on:
[ ] Summoning Demons - As the Auror presence in the castle will be significantly reduced over the summer, it's now safest to increase your network of evil spirits. Put a bunch of them to work, maybe search the Black Lake, scour the Forbidden Forest, and do some redecorating in your private spots over the castle.
[ ] Preparing for the Ministry Break-in - As Geist had explained, breaking into the Department of Mysteries is no small task. He'd never managed to do it casually in his life, but he also didn't have the massive boon that is your Cloak of Invisibility. He's confident that a couple of months will suffice to let you break in without trouble.
[ ] Untracing Your Wand - There are some pretty simple methods for removing the Trace, but they require time and skill. You're at roughly the appropriate level of magical talent that you can remove it from your primary wand.
[ ] Write-in
- Location
- California
[X] History of Magic
[] Untracing Your Wand
[] Studying, Evading, And Eventually Defeating Death
-edit: note that Geist has started being like this since we encountered another soul fragment, and has not made assertions like this in the prior time we've known him as far as I can tell. I suspect that the encounter with the other soul fragment has somehow affected Geist, and I'd like to figure out how. Thus, my free time vote is:
[X] Figure out what is up with Geist, through both magic and conversation.
[] Untracing Your Wand
[] Studying, Evading, And Eventually Defeating Death
-edit: note that Geist has started being like this since we encountered another soul fragment, and has not made assertions like this in the prior time we've known him as far as I can tell. I suspect that the encounter with the other soul fragment has somehow affected Geist, and I'd like to figure out how. Thus, my free time vote is:
[X] Figure out what is up with Geist, through both magic and conversation.
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Parabola
Divided Loyalties Librarian
- Location
- The Destination of Fate
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand
I wish for Harry to slow down just a bit and not sprint so hard that he stumbles and falls. If we had a bunch of Gnosis, I'd think otherwise, but you can't go full throttle literally all the time.
[X] Untracing Your Wand
I wish for Harry to slow down just a bit and not sprint so hard that he stumbles and falls. If we had a bunch of Gnosis, I'd think otherwise, but you can't go full throttle literally all the time.
- Location
- United States
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand
[X] Untracing Your Wand
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand
It is incredibly worrying how casual Harry is talking to strangers about deeply private things.
No, seriously, I understand that he's the sort of person who joined Hufflepuff for infinite friendship and has told his close friends lots of intimate knowledge, but telling strangers this sort of thing must be bordering on some form of mental disorder, right?
And maybe that's the point- his mental health may not have fully recovered since being tortured in his dreams, and the Geist "revelation" is clearly waking on his brain as well, so he's more willing to mull it over with company.
So we may need to keep a closer eye on his well-being? Not sure what we can practically do besides ease up on studying or something, and I doubt the thread will be up for that.
[X] Untracing Your Wand
It is incredibly worrying how casual Harry is talking to strangers about deeply private things.
No, seriously, I understand that he's the sort of person who joined Hufflepuff for infinite friendship and has told his close friends lots of intimate knowledge, but telling strangers this sort of thing must be bordering on some form of mental disorder, right?
And maybe that's the point- his mental health may not have fully recovered since being tortured in his dreams, and the Geist "revelation" is clearly waking on his brain as well, so he's more willing to mull it over with company.
So we may need to keep a closer eye on his well-being? Not sure what we can practically do besides ease up on studying or something, and I doubt the thread will be up for that.
Lightwavers
Purple Noodle
- Pronouns
- they/them
[X] History of Magic
Is the safe, obvious choice. So Harry's definitely going to miss some enormous plot clue with this option. I'm eager to see the results.
Is the safe, obvious choice. So Harry's definitely going to miss some enormous plot clue with this option. I'm eager to see the results.
- Location
- California
History content for this turn is: "Soap Blizzard of 1378, Werewolf Code of Conduct, Elfric the Eager, Gargoyle Strike of 1911, Uric the Oddball, Wielders of the Elder Wand, Medieval Assembly of European Wizards, International Warlock Convention of 1289, 1883 Riot at the British Ministry of Magic Headquarters". I suspect "Wielders of the Elder Wand" will be the plot cue, as the Dark Lord was one such.
[X] Summoning Demons
Excalibur in the lake beckons.. It'll be interesting to get started on that part of the plot. Might have tie in with Death too somehow? We have a significant amount of Covenant strength lying around and more minions means force multiplication.
Loved the conversation with Cho. I look forward to figuring Geist out.
[X] Figure out what is up with Geist, through both magic and conversation
[X] History of Magic
[X] Herbiology
Perhaps we can use catching up on History pretext to use a turn to specifically get Harry to read Wielders of the Elder Wand? History class means directly talking with ghost experts though. It means Harry would have to track them down later. Victims of the Elder wand perhaps.
[X] A Song of Forever [5 Gnosis]
-[X] Transfiguration: Animagus
Just in the interest of getting this done earlier and moving onto our other projects.
We could also pick up Slytherin wand in the chamber. Pretext for going there could be him being seized by a sudden desire to show the Heir of Slytherin around the Chamber. Reasoning to Geist that Ron might have higher level interaction inside the chamber. Once we're inside it could be our chance to grab the wand and the Secret of Earth.
[X] Attempt to re-enter the Chamber
-[X] Tell Geist you want to show Ron around the Chamber seeing he's Heir of Slytherin and the aurors are now out.
-[X] If he is disinclined to cooperate get Ron directly to attempt Parseltongue on the Chamber entrance.
-[X] Meta: get the traceless dark wand, and the Secret of Earth to start understanding Geist's soul fragment.
-[X] If Ron is fluent get him to chat up with the Basilisk - asking them about what the Azkabanite was doing in the chamber last time.
Excalibur in the lake beckons.. It'll be interesting to get started on that part of the plot. Might have tie in with Death too somehow? We have a significant amount of Covenant strength lying around and more minions means force multiplication.
Loved the conversation with Cho. I look forward to figuring Geist out.
[X] Figure out what is up with Geist, through both magic and conversation
[X] History of Magic
[X] Herbiology
Perhaps we can use catching up on History pretext to use a turn to specifically get Harry to read Wielders of the Elder Wand? History class means directly talking with ghost experts though. It means Harry would have to track them down later. Victims of the Elder wand perhaps.
[X] A Song of Forever [5 Gnosis]
-[X] Transfiguration: Animagus
Just in the interest of getting this done earlier and moving onto our other projects.
We could also pick up Slytherin wand in the chamber. Pretext for going there could be him being seized by a sudden desire to show the Heir of Slytherin around the Chamber. Reasoning to Geist that Ron might have higher level interaction inside the chamber. Once we're inside it could be our chance to grab the wand and the Secret of Earth.
[X] Attempt to re-enter the Chamber
-[X] Tell Geist you want to show Ron around the Chamber seeing he's Heir of Slytherin and the aurors are now out.
-[X] If he is disinclined to cooperate get Ron directly to attempt Parseltongue on the Chamber entrance.
-[X] Meta: get the traceless dark wand, and the Secret of Earth to start understanding Geist's soul fragment.
-[X] If Ron is fluent get him to chat up with the Basilisk - asking them about what the Azkabanite was doing in the chamber last time.
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- Location
- Ostren
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand
[X] Untracing Your Wand
Added a greed write-in.. Understanding Horcruxes is probably the only way we can directly help Geist.
@Hasturtimesthree
@Hasturtimesthree
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand - There are some pretty simple methods for removing the Trace, but they require time and skill. You're at roughly the appropriate level of magical talent that you can remove it from your primary wand.
[X] Untracing Your Wand - There are some pretty simple methods for removing the Trace, but they require time and skill. You're at roughly the appropriate level of magical talent that you can remove it from your primary wand.
[X] History of Magic
[x] Untracing Your Wand
[x] Untracing Your Wand
It wouldn't work.
At any rate, I think that, unfortunately, this isn't really the time for a nice visit to the bottom of the Black Lake, not yet anyway.
We can honestly do that during the summer if we master our Phoenix transformation by then and just teleport to Hogwarts, making exploration during this time somewhat preferable (with the additional boon of the number of Aurors there being decreased to a minimum)
Breaking into the ministry is not something that I think that we are ready for quite yet, and it's not really as much of a high-priority goal as of right now, the same applies to demons.
This only really leaves untracing our wand (which is something that I thought we did already? We used plenty of magic outside of Hogwarts after all, granted whenever we did use it it was in particular areas such as Diagon Alley, the hospital or Sirius' house) in preparation for some summertime shenanigans.
[X] History of Magic
[X] Untracing Your Wand
Should the character ever die, their Horcrux will immediately capture their soul from across an effectively limitless range, denying any methods or attempts of soul-capturing magic, and resurrect its organothaumic blueprint, incarnating a new body for it, in a manner informed by the Horcrux's own form, concept, and magical capabilities.
As an example, a book might resurrect the character as a narrative trope which soon memetically spreads to every book in the nearest location containing the largest mass of books, such as an entire library, before their resurrection initiates, with a number of books slamming together, pages kneading into a golem of paper and parchment that attains humanoid shape, and then increasingly living and human characteristics. Horcrux resurrection typically takes a full month to complete but may take longer for some Horcruxes. Alternatively, may resurrect Geist via this method, should he desire it (it depends on his mood.)
From the Horcrux related
attainment. I think Geist is in a timer as we grow magically strong, he is fated to diminish. We'd only get to keep him around through a full blown revival. For that, we need to get started on the horcrux study unlock.
Anyways really excited to pull off teleportation shenanigans using the phoenix form. Visiting Hogwarts over the summers is a great idea. We had so many other places we wanted to get around to seeing too. Visiting the location of Atlantis irl, Greek/Roman ruins, other magical schools, Temple of Solomon.. If we had alchemy it'll also have made securing exotic things for transmutation easier. Phoenixes can carry a lot of stuff beyond their weight.
Last edited:
Avenging Wand
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Avenging Wand
It seemed that Geist possessed a wealth of information regarding the Trace, especially its removal.
The Ministry of Magic's Improper Use of Magic Office implemented a double-step verification system for spellcasting.
The first stage is wand-side. All wands sold commercially, themselves, have the Trace placed upon them, legally implemented upon the creation of a wand by Ministry regulations. The spell is programmed to automatically fade away once it detects that its bonded wielder is above the age of majority.
However, as long as the Trace continues to exist on a wand, it sends out a ping on every cast spell, recording the type of spell that was cast in the information. That information is picked up by the Improper Use of Magic Office. Allegedly, this could only happen when the spell doesn't pick up on the presence of a certain environmental factor, so the spell doesn't trigger in places such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, or Ministry-approved wizarding areas that comply with standard regulations and practices.
Nobody was certain whether this alleged information was the unbiased truth, but given that most Dark Wizards weren't frequently arrested when practicing only in their own homes seemed to indicate it was factual. One rare point of positivity in the Ministry's favor when it came to respecting people's privacy in their own homes.
The second stage is Ministry-side. An astrological device, called simply the Trace Orb, in the Improper Use of Magic Office confirms a ping, records its data, and prints out a scroll containing the information. A clockwork golem operating next to the associated station cuts out the scroll with a knife, hands it over to an investigator, and the investigator studies its contents to determine whether magic was actually improperly used. It's exactly at this point that a young wizard might receive a letter informing them that the Ministry made note of the misdemeanor and infracted them.
In pure theory, removing an enchantment of that sort from an object, such as the Trace from its attached wand, was simplicity itself. Even a third-year Hogwarts student of particular incompetence and brazenly dull wit possessed the theoretical skills to do so and would be able to do so given a couple of hours, a standard reference document, and some objects to practice on before the actual attempt. The issue came with the Ministry side of things, as the Trace Orb was capable of detecting, recording, and printing out the data that a Trace spell went offline. Normally, once a wizard reached the age of majority, this would be simply disregarded.
However, when this wasn't the case, it'd instantly become clear a serious violation had occurred. A successful attempt of removing the Trace from a wand without Ministry approval, depending on who carried it out, was punishable by removal of the wand and restrictions on magical casting until the age of majority, expulsion from Hogwarts, up to seven years in a magical prison, or even - yes, indeed - a short trip to hotel Azkaban itself. That one was usually reserved for extreme cases, such as mass removals.
However, there were certain conditions under which the Trace Orb didn't properly operate, and couldn't pick up the Trace from certain areas. A thunderstorm happened to be one of them, and so, on the same day that Harry finished his Animagus training, he'd also have an opportunity to remove the Trace.
They stood upon the peak of the Astronomy Tower, on the edge of its balustrade, as the dark clouds gathered and swirled, storms gathering.
"A blanket?" Harry asked Cho. "What for?"
"Harry, when you transform, you'll leave your clothes behind," she explained, discomfited. "It's always like that on your first transformation. It'll take you a while before you can go back, but when you do, you'll probably be buck-naked."
His cheeks went slightly red, but not as much as they would have a year ago. He looked away, blinking. "Do you promise not to look?"
"I'll forget anyway."
"You're right."
"Anyway, what did you bring a second wand for?"
"I'm removing the Trace from my wand," he explained in an easygoing manner. "I'm planning to break into the Department of Mysteries at the earliest available opportunity, probably this summer, so I can find out where they're keeping Death, so I can fight him for killing people. It should be easy since I can become invisible."
She merely shook her head. Then, when he didn't chuckle or laugh, stared at him. "Are you... Oh Merlin, you're for real?"
"I'm always real. Not unlike my schizophrenic brain ghost."
"Harry, that's a terrible idea," she told him, sounding modestly terrified. "And Death... isn't some magical spirit you can find and fight."
"Nah, I'm sure they're keeping Ol' Grim somewhere in there. I'll find him and kick his ass." He pulled out a canteen and took a swig of Wiggenweld for bravery. The leaf in his mouth could handle that kind of moisture, fortunately. It wasn't going to react with anything magical or alchemical in his mouth. "For my dead Muggle family."
"Rrright. So what are you doing first?"
"I'll handle the Trace first. Once I'm in my other form, it'll be hard to cast spells."
"Right."
The storm clouds gathered and brewed, a dark eye of cyclones above. A bolt of lightning struck the earth in the Forbidden Forest, and its many animals scattered for cover as it started to rain. A great and terrible darkness befell the world, shielding it from the sun, as thunder reached them at last, with the storefront.
"Alright, I think it's time."
He took out the precious wand he'd bought at Ollivander's, slightly regretting the terrible thing he was about to do to it. A rarity even in medieval times, antique Roman wand wood, and exceptional make. It didn't deserve this kind of treatment.
Gently, carefully, he placed his fingers on very particular spots on the wand's length; one finger in the middle, another in a spot close to the tip, but not the tip itself. Cho observed as he applied force until the wood began to crack and snap. He didn't go all the way, allowing the wood to hang loosely by several splinters, but the glorious core underneath was revealed, sparkling with golden magical energy. He watched as the magic in the wand faded and leaked away, the enchantments placed by Ollivander's ancestors fading away. And soon, the Trace went away too.
He picked out the spare wand and cast the spell, over and over. "Reparo Maxima." A number of splinters regenerated, but it wasn't a complete repair. It was difficult to fix a wand. "Reparo Maxima."
"Here, let me," Cho offered. She moved her wrist and unleashed a translucent swirl of energy into his wand. "Reparo Maxima."
"It's fixed." He smiled. "And Traceless."
"Is that really how you remove the Trace?" she asked. "Snap your wand in the middle of a storm and fix it?"
"Yes, the Ministry is going to be none the wiser."
She nodded, then handed over his crystal phial. Harry accepted it warily. "Animagus time; I'll be here for you in case something goes wrong."
Animagus time indeed, Geist laughed within. Are you ready to die? To feel the pain? I've heard that one's first transformation is agonizing, especially without proper Transfiguration practice. You haven't learned a quarter of what McGonagall prescribed you. Are you ready to die? he repeated.
You could've told me this earlier.
Nervous, Potter?
"Don't worry, Harry," Cho reassured him. "If anything goes wrong, I'm ready to help."
"Thank you." He looked down at the potion. "Right then, let's go."
He nodded in a salutory manner to Cho, uncorking the Animagus potion and downing it. Its substance was thick and slimy, more like minced gelatin than fluid, and it didn't go into him pleasantly. Its sludgy texture came with a deep bitterness, like enhanced mint and aromatic, pungent herbs.
The Animagus potion moved down his esophagus, to the level of his chest, and seemed to palpably stop there for a second, dissolving into something intangible - a kind of primal, exciting energy that bobbed in tune with his breath. The storm outside continued to rage, and Harry could feel as that primal energy within him reached out, an animalistic and subconscious element that dreamed within him ever since his first breath, but was now unleashed and given physical form by the potion he'd consumed. The storm within began to rage as well, in tune with the one outside, and they ebbed and flowed in tune with the universe, harmonized and rhythmic, like a gentle tapdance.
He began to feel an indescribable, burning, violating heat arise in his throat, like the stinging of acrimonious ethanol. It descend into his chest like a white-hot hammer of vengeance, and then slithered down cruelly into his stomach, spreading its searing heat over his insides, as though he were filled with volcanic magma. It spread over his entire body in seconds, flowing through his arteries and veins, revivifying him with lightning. His heartbeat picked up, but alongside it, he sensed a second, weaker beat.
It rose, and rose, and sped up, and sped up even more - a heartbeat more like a drum of war, going crazy - and the heat began to scorch him, streams of diaphanous steam wafting off of his skin. He grit his teeth painfully and grimaced, as his fingers went up in flames, tips fading away in a blaze of fire like small torches. He opened his mouth, releasing a soundless scream, and only a bright fire emerged from him. His eyes began to heat up as well, and moments later everything went blindingly white. His body changed, bones snapping inelegantly as they moved and rearranged.
And then, in an explosion of fire, he was reborn into a young phoenix, an incandescent beast of flame. It took a couple of seconds, but the flames emanating from him calmed down, and he was left merely a young bird with elegant, golden-red plumage. The heat within remained, softer and gentler, but no less powerful.
He screeched in confusion, as he attempted to step forward. His smooth talons slid against the floor and he somehow faceplanted with his beak.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
"Oh, you poor thing, you don't have a balance. Here, let me help, Harry." Cho gently picked him up and set him back down. Harry's chicken legs wavered and hesitated, shaking in an attempt to keep his balance. He screeched desperately, attempting to go back to human form, but couldn't. The second heartbeat wasn't coming.
How do I go back to a human?!
-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
Am I stuck like this forever?! I knew I should've learned Transfiguration!
-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
"Harry, you need to focus. Imagine your human form. Imagine going back to it."
He did, as desperately and eagerly as he could, focusing and using all of the ingrained magical knowledge and experience he possessed. And yet, no matter how much he pictured it, the magic stubbornly refused to arrive and save him.
He flapped his impressively large wings and found himself almost weightless for a moment, before mass returned. It was a curious sensation, and he decided to see whether or not he could fly - maybe if he could locate Dumbledore, the old wizard might be able to turn him back. Harry attempted again, beating the wings, over and over with noisy flaps, until his talons began to lose contact with the floor. Overbalanced to the front, he teetered and went sailing beyond the railing before Cho was able to grab him. He could only distantly hear the gasp of shock from her as he began to rapidly accelerate towards the ground.
OH SHOOT, OH SHOOT, OH SHOOT-
HAHA-WAIT, FUCK-FUCK-FUCK, FLAP HARDER!-
He attempted to stall his descent, spreading his wings like a parachute, and managed to catch a lucky breeze that raised his trajectory slightly upwards. He managed to avoid a confrontation with the earth as a result but was forced to begin flapping his wings with renewed vigor to avoid stalling again. The process became tiresome very quickly, requiring him to move constantly and swiftly, but once he got the hang of it, he found that flying was instinctive and natural for this form; effortless and thoughtless.
He screeched in an ungodly loud ululation as students and teachers below him, in the Astronomy Courtyard, stared and pointed up. The storm had begun to pass moments ago, during his transformation, and now he was a golden star racing through the sky, out of control, but managing to fly straight forward.
He attempted to move his tail. Its errant twitch caused him to spiral down and to the left, and by dint of luck, he managed to steer himself forcefully upwards, flying through an open window in the courtyard's second level, out of another open window and then turning to ascend. He screeched out a cackling, maddened laugh, alongside Geist in his mind who seemed relieved to find they weren't going to die in a fatal crash with the earth. Streams of golden fire passed off of him, contrails left by his wings, as he accelerated to impossible velocities, magically fast, and reached the Astronomy Tower's top again.
He shot in like a bullet, slid across the floor, and managed to return back to human form, reinvigorated.
He laughed and looked at Cho. "That was great!"
"Put on some clothes." She levitated the blanket from before in front of him, as an impromptu changing station, to preserve modesty.
"Oh."
It's hard to believe that Cho Chang is the first girl to see your butt.
---
After that, you managed to slip out of the Astronomy Tower unnoticed and gave Cho the regular pay and dose of forgetfulness pills.
A phoenix is a magical beast with a lot of natural abilities. What's the first one you'd like to practice? As this might be relevant as soon as this summer, this choice is highly relevant and important.
[ ] Flame Apparition - A unique form of Apparition that can bypass most wards and magical abjurations, but is extremely difficult and tiring to perform. Can be used to carry people and objects with great amounts of training. The Phoenix Method of Apparition was one of the magical dynamisms that inspired the creation of Floo powder.
However, unlike most professional forms of wizard Apparition, it's extremely unsubtle and noticeable - even a short-range blink is as loud as an explosion, and easily twice as bright. It's likely that you'll be able to perform it reliably within a month if you start practicing now.
[ ] Accelerated Flight and Pyromancy - Expel the golden phoenix flames in order to accelerate your flight speed, or spread them around an environment to repel foes and protect allies. Your current peak speed is around 120km/h, but you could easily double that in a single month with regular training.
[ ] Healing Tears - Basically, you're going to learn to cry any time you want. More difficult than it seems, but it'll make you an indispensable and powerful healer. There's almost nothing that a phoenix's tears cannot heal - even deeply cursed wounds and fatal injuries can be done away with in a couple of drops. A phoenix's tears are among the only known substances in existence that can reliably and significantly heal cursed wounds, curing them with no more challenge than normal wounds - a feat that's considered to be otherwise impossible.
After this, you're going to take on your Astronomy OWL.
Is there anything else you'd like to do before summer begins? Aside from removing the curses on the DADA position and Voldemort's name, of course. If you'd like, you may pick one of the activities mentioned in the previous vote.
[ ] Write-in
It seemed that Geist possessed a wealth of information regarding the Trace, especially its removal.
The Ministry of Magic's Improper Use of Magic Office implemented a double-step verification system for spellcasting.
The first stage is wand-side. All wands sold commercially, themselves, have the Trace placed upon them, legally implemented upon the creation of a wand by Ministry regulations. The spell is programmed to automatically fade away once it detects that its bonded wielder is above the age of majority.
However, as long as the Trace continues to exist on a wand, it sends out a ping on every cast spell, recording the type of spell that was cast in the information. That information is picked up by the Improper Use of Magic Office. Allegedly, this could only happen when the spell doesn't pick up on the presence of a certain environmental factor, so the spell doesn't trigger in places such as Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, or Ministry-approved wizarding areas that comply with standard regulations and practices.
Nobody was certain whether this alleged information was the unbiased truth, but given that most Dark Wizards weren't frequently arrested when practicing only in their own homes seemed to indicate it was factual. One rare point of positivity in the Ministry's favor when it came to respecting people's privacy in their own homes.
The second stage is Ministry-side. An astrological device, called simply the Trace Orb, in the Improper Use of Magic Office confirms a ping, records its data, and prints out a scroll containing the information. A clockwork golem operating next to the associated station cuts out the scroll with a knife, hands it over to an investigator, and the investigator studies its contents to determine whether magic was actually improperly used. It's exactly at this point that a young wizard might receive a letter informing them that the Ministry made note of the misdemeanor and infracted them.
In pure theory, removing an enchantment of that sort from an object, such as the Trace from its attached wand, was simplicity itself. Even a third-year Hogwarts student of particular incompetence and brazenly dull wit possessed the theoretical skills to do so and would be able to do so given a couple of hours, a standard reference document, and some objects to practice on before the actual attempt. The issue came with the Ministry side of things, as the Trace Orb was capable of detecting, recording, and printing out the data that a Trace spell went offline. Normally, once a wizard reached the age of majority, this would be simply disregarded.
However, when this wasn't the case, it'd instantly become clear a serious violation had occurred. A successful attempt of removing the Trace from a wand without Ministry approval, depending on who carried it out, was punishable by removal of the wand and restrictions on magical casting until the age of majority, expulsion from Hogwarts, up to seven years in a magical prison, or even - yes, indeed - a short trip to hotel Azkaban itself. That one was usually reserved for extreme cases, such as mass removals.
However, there were certain conditions under which the Trace Orb didn't properly operate, and couldn't pick up the Trace from certain areas. A thunderstorm happened to be one of them, and so, on the same day that Harry finished his Animagus training, he'd also have an opportunity to remove the Trace.
They stood upon the peak of the Astronomy Tower, on the edge of its balustrade, as the dark clouds gathered and swirled, storms gathering.
"A blanket?" Harry asked Cho. "What for?"
"Harry, when you transform, you'll leave your clothes behind," she explained, discomfited. "It's always like that on your first transformation. It'll take you a while before you can go back, but when you do, you'll probably be buck-naked."
His cheeks went slightly red, but not as much as they would have a year ago. He looked away, blinking. "Do you promise not to look?"
"I'll forget anyway."
"You're right."
"Anyway, what did you bring a second wand for?"
"I'm removing the Trace from my wand," he explained in an easygoing manner. "I'm planning to break into the Department of Mysteries at the earliest available opportunity, probably this summer, so I can find out where they're keeping Death, so I can fight him for killing people. It should be easy since I can become invisible."
She merely shook her head. Then, when he didn't chuckle or laugh, stared at him. "Are you... Oh Merlin, you're for real?"
"I'm always real. Not unlike my schizophrenic brain ghost."
"Harry, that's a terrible idea," she told him, sounding modestly terrified. "And Death... isn't some magical spirit you can find and fight."
"Nah, I'm sure they're keeping Ol' Grim somewhere in there. I'll find him and kick his ass." He pulled out a canteen and took a swig of Wiggenweld for bravery. The leaf in his mouth could handle that kind of moisture, fortunately. It wasn't going to react with anything magical or alchemical in his mouth. "For my dead Muggle family."
"Rrright. So what are you doing first?"
"I'll handle the Trace first. Once I'm in my other form, it'll be hard to cast spells."
"Right."
The storm clouds gathered and brewed, a dark eye of cyclones above. A bolt of lightning struck the earth in the Forbidden Forest, and its many animals scattered for cover as it started to rain. A great and terrible darkness befell the world, shielding it from the sun, as thunder reached them at last, with the storefront.
"Alright, I think it's time."
He took out the precious wand he'd bought at Ollivander's, slightly regretting the terrible thing he was about to do to it. A rarity even in medieval times, antique Roman wand wood, and exceptional make. It didn't deserve this kind of treatment.
Gently, carefully, he placed his fingers on very particular spots on the wand's length; one finger in the middle, another in a spot close to the tip, but not the tip itself. Cho observed as he applied force until the wood began to crack and snap. He didn't go all the way, allowing the wood to hang loosely by several splinters, but the glorious core underneath was revealed, sparkling with golden magical energy. He watched as the magic in the wand faded and leaked away, the enchantments placed by Ollivander's ancestors fading away. And soon, the Trace went away too.
He picked out the spare wand and cast the spell, over and over. "Reparo Maxima." A number of splinters regenerated, but it wasn't a complete repair. It was difficult to fix a wand. "Reparo Maxima."
"Here, let me," Cho offered. She moved her wrist and unleashed a translucent swirl of energy into his wand. "Reparo Maxima."
"It's fixed." He smiled. "And Traceless."
"Is that really how you remove the Trace?" she asked. "Snap your wand in the middle of a storm and fix it?"
"Yes, the Ministry is going to be none the wiser."
She nodded, then handed over his crystal phial. Harry accepted it warily. "Animagus time; I'll be here for you in case something goes wrong."
Animagus time indeed, Geist laughed within. Are you ready to die? To feel the pain? I've heard that one's first transformation is agonizing, especially without proper Transfiguration practice. You haven't learned a quarter of what McGonagall prescribed you. Are you ready to die? he repeated.
You could've told me this earlier.
Nervous, Potter?
"Don't worry, Harry," Cho reassured him. "If anything goes wrong, I'm ready to help."
"Thank you." He looked down at the potion. "Right then, let's go."
He nodded in a salutory manner to Cho, uncorking the Animagus potion and downing it. Its substance was thick and slimy, more like minced gelatin than fluid, and it didn't go into him pleasantly. Its sludgy texture came with a deep bitterness, like enhanced mint and aromatic, pungent herbs.
The Animagus potion moved down his esophagus, to the level of his chest, and seemed to palpably stop there for a second, dissolving into something intangible - a kind of primal, exciting energy that bobbed in tune with his breath. The storm outside continued to rage, and Harry could feel as that primal energy within him reached out, an animalistic and subconscious element that dreamed within him ever since his first breath, but was now unleashed and given physical form by the potion he'd consumed. The storm within began to rage as well, in tune with the one outside, and they ebbed and flowed in tune with the universe, harmonized and rhythmic, like a gentle tapdance.
He began to feel an indescribable, burning, violating heat arise in his throat, like the stinging of acrimonious ethanol. It descend into his chest like a white-hot hammer of vengeance, and then slithered down cruelly into his stomach, spreading its searing heat over his insides, as though he were filled with volcanic magma. It spread over his entire body in seconds, flowing through his arteries and veins, revivifying him with lightning. His heartbeat picked up, but alongside it, he sensed a second, weaker beat.
It rose, and rose, and sped up, and sped up even more - a heartbeat more like a drum of war, going crazy - and the heat began to scorch him, streams of diaphanous steam wafting off of his skin. He grit his teeth painfully and grimaced, as his fingers went up in flames, tips fading away in a blaze of fire like small torches. He opened his mouth, releasing a soundless scream, and only a bright fire emerged from him. His eyes began to heat up as well, and moments later everything went blindingly white. His body changed, bones snapping inelegantly as they moved and rearranged.
And then, in an explosion of fire, he was reborn into a young phoenix, an incandescent beast of flame. It took a couple of seconds, but the flames emanating from him calmed down, and he was left merely a young bird with elegant, golden-red plumage. The heat within remained, softer and gentler, but no less powerful.
He screeched in confusion, as he attempted to step forward. His smooth talons slid against the floor and he somehow faceplanted with his beak.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
"Oh, you poor thing, you don't have a balance. Here, let me help, Harry." Cho gently picked him up and set him back down. Harry's chicken legs wavered and hesitated, shaking in an attempt to keep his balance. He screeched desperately, attempting to go back to human form, but couldn't. The second heartbeat wasn't coming.
How do I go back to a human?!
-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
Am I stuck like this forever?! I knew I should've learned Transfiguration!
-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-
"Harry, you need to focus. Imagine your human form. Imagine going back to it."
He did, as desperately and eagerly as he could, focusing and using all of the ingrained magical knowledge and experience he possessed. And yet, no matter how much he pictured it, the magic stubbornly refused to arrive and save him.
He flapped his impressively large wings and found himself almost weightless for a moment, before mass returned. It was a curious sensation, and he decided to see whether or not he could fly - maybe if he could locate Dumbledore, the old wizard might be able to turn him back. Harry attempted again, beating the wings, over and over with noisy flaps, until his talons began to lose contact with the floor. Overbalanced to the front, he teetered and went sailing beyond the railing before Cho was able to grab him. He could only distantly hear the gasp of shock from her as he began to rapidly accelerate towards the ground.
OH SHOOT, OH SHOOT, OH SHOOT-
HAHA-WAIT, FUCK-FUCK-FUCK, FLAP HARDER!-
He attempted to stall his descent, spreading his wings like a parachute, and managed to catch a lucky breeze that raised his trajectory slightly upwards. He managed to avoid a confrontation with the earth as a result but was forced to begin flapping his wings with renewed vigor to avoid stalling again. The process became tiresome very quickly, requiring him to move constantly and swiftly, but once he got the hang of it, he found that flying was instinctive and natural for this form; effortless and thoughtless.
He screeched in an ungodly loud ululation as students and teachers below him, in the Astronomy Courtyard, stared and pointed up. The storm had begun to pass moments ago, during his transformation, and now he was a golden star racing through the sky, out of control, but managing to fly straight forward.
He attempted to move his tail. Its errant twitch caused him to spiral down and to the left, and by dint of luck, he managed to steer himself forcefully upwards, flying through an open window in the courtyard's second level, out of another open window and then turning to ascend. He screeched out a cackling, maddened laugh, alongside Geist in his mind who seemed relieved to find they weren't going to die in a fatal crash with the earth. Streams of golden fire passed off of him, contrails left by his wings, as he accelerated to impossible velocities, magically fast, and reached the Astronomy Tower's top again.
He shot in like a bullet, slid across the floor, and managed to return back to human form, reinvigorated.
He laughed and looked at Cho. "That was great!"
"Put on some clothes." She levitated the blanket from before in front of him, as an impromptu changing station, to preserve modesty.
"Oh."
It's hard to believe that Cho Chang is the first girl to see your butt.
---
After that, you managed to slip out of the Astronomy Tower unnoticed and gave Cho the regular pay and dose of forgetfulness pills.
A phoenix is a magical beast with a lot of natural abilities. What's the first one you'd like to practice? As this might be relevant as soon as this summer, this choice is highly relevant and important.
[ ] Flame Apparition - A unique form of Apparition that can bypass most wards and magical abjurations, but is extremely difficult and tiring to perform. Can be used to carry people and objects with great amounts of training. The Phoenix Method of Apparition was one of the magical dynamisms that inspired the creation of Floo powder.
However, unlike most professional forms of wizard Apparition, it's extremely unsubtle and noticeable - even a short-range blink is as loud as an explosion, and easily twice as bright. It's likely that you'll be able to perform it reliably within a month if you start practicing now.
[ ] Accelerated Flight and Pyromancy - Expel the golden phoenix flames in order to accelerate your flight speed, or spread them around an environment to repel foes and protect allies. Your current peak speed is around 120km/h, but you could easily double that in a single month with regular training.
[ ] Healing Tears - Basically, you're going to learn to cry any time you want. More difficult than it seems, but it'll make you an indispensable and powerful healer. There's almost nothing that a phoenix's tears cannot heal - even deeply cursed wounds and fatal injuries can be done away with in a couple of drops. A phoenix's tears are among the only known substances in existence that can reliably and significantly heal cursed wounds, curing them with no more challenge than normal wounds - a feat that's considered to be otherwise impossible.
After this, you're going to take on your Astronomy OWL.
Is there anything else you'd like to do before summer begins? Aside from removing the curses on the DADA position and Voldemort's name, of course. If you'd like, you may pick one of the activities mentioned in the previous vote.
[ ] Write-in
