Lightning In A Bottle
June 11th 1998
London, England
12 Grimmauld Place
Things sped up over the next week.
The Ministry pushed through all of Harry's paperwork, and Rose was able to sell the rest of the properties quickly, especially after the Prophet had written about what Harry was doing.
Harry was equally praised for selling the properties to war victims, criticized for not just giving the properties away, and villainized for 'disrespecting' the wishes of those who bequeathed him the properties to begin with.
Harry did his best to avoid going out in public as much as possible, but if anyone were to ask him, he would have told them all to fuck off.
Best as well he hadn't gotten the chance, and less than a week after his shitshow meeting at the Ministry, the three (four counting Teddy) were meeting in the dining room, one of the only rooms that hadn't been stripped, to discuss how exactly they were going to travel to another universe.
"The how isn't the problem, wizards have known how to travel the worlds for thousands of years, but who" Luna looked at Harry, "Harry, your the only one with the magical strength to open the gateway, but you can barely control your magic as it is" Luna said, and Harry raised an eyebrow at that.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, a little offended, and Luna gave a little shake of her head.
"Harry, ever since you came back from the dead, and especially since you've Claimed the Hollows, you've barely been able to keep a lid on your magic. Yesterday, you turned Lady Black's portrait into cinders, and last week you completely shredded the Ministry's wards. They had to call in eight teams of ward masters to repair the damage before the whole ward scheme could cascade. The blowback could have leveled London" Luna said, and Harry pressed his lips together, guilt pulling at him.
Harry hadn't known how dangerous what he'd done had been until he got home and had watched Luna's face turn horrified when he told her what he'd done.
The average ward had the kinetic energy of a firecracker, let alone hundreds of them woven together and infused with hundreds of years of magical residue; if the ward masters hadn't been able to stabilize the wards, countless people could of died because he wanted to make a point.
"Walburga had a spare frame in the attic" Harry grumbled, and Luna gave him a dry look, so Harry acknowledged her point.
"I've been doing some research, and I like the problem is that you've grown too fast for your body to catch up" Luna said, and Neville's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Like a plant that's pot is too small, eventually the growth is too much and the pot shatters" Neville said thoughtfully, and Luna smiled proudly at him, and Harry gave them a few seconds to stare lovingly at each other before cutting in with a soft cough.
"So, what, I need a new pot? In this analogy that pot would be my body and I'm kind of attached to my current one" Harry said dryly, and Luna rolled her eyes fondly.
"Magic is massless energy that can be found in everything, so the vessel is all mental, you just need to visualize and expand your boundaries" Luna explained, and Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"You've lost me" Harry admitted, and felt marginally better that Neville also looked slightly confused.
"There is no physiological difference between magical and nonmagical people, the ability to channel energy through our bodies is a spiritual ability," Luna waited until they nodded in understand, "The problem is that directing that current is difficult, dangerous and takes years of practice, so humans developed shortcuts by creating foci. However, this places stopgaps on our magic, meaning we sacrifice power for versatility" Luna lectured, and Neville's eyes lit up in understanding.
"Like how every magical species except us can only use a few types of magic, like nymphs with nature magic, or goblins with mining, they're stronger than us in those areas, but we're more versatile because we have wands" Neville mused, and Luna smiled and nodded.
"Yes, magic isn't different between species, we use the same magic that any other species does, the difference is we've utilized wands to bridge the gap" Luna explained, and Harry suddenly understood.
"So, wands give us versatility, but we lack the power that specializing would give us" Harry realized, and Luna nodded.
"If we taught 11 year old's how to channel directly from the source, only a handful of them would make it to graduation. Bonding with a wand is the first step to closing off those pathways, which is why accidental magic becomes more rare the longer a child has a wand" Luna explained, and Harry thought about that.
"What does this have to do with my control issues?" Harry asked, and Luna and Neville exchanged a heavy look.
"Those pathway close because your magic gets used to using less magic to achieve the results it wants. However, your magic was constantly feeding the Horcrux, so those pathways never fully closed. Now all that energy that was going to the Horcrux is directionless, and then you Claimed the Hollows" Luna explained, and Harry felt a migraine brewing behind his eyes.
Figures that Tom would continue to fuck him over even after he was dead, Harry grumbled.
"You hold more magic inside of you than anyone I've ever met, but the size of your reserves hasn't changed, making the excess overflow. You also don't use enough magic to deplete your reserves, meaning you don't pull in fresh magic, making your magic stagnant and harder to control. Its a volatile mix" Luna explained, and Harry sighed.
"What do you mean stagnant?" Harry asked, Teddy beginning to stir in his arms, little discontent whines coming from the no long sleeping baby.
"Magic can't be destroyed, it simply changes state, we pull magic into ourselves, and push it back out through spells, where its recycled and the cycle continues. Using a wand simply changes the shape of the magic, but there's no magical signature between one spell or another" Luna explained, and Harry gently rubbed soothing circles onto Teddy's back, standing up to gently rock the baby, as he began to fuss.
"So, how do I fix it?" Harry asked, and Teddy slowly settled back down, his big green eyes watching the inhabitants of the room with sleepy curiosity.
"You'll have heard people mention a 'magical core' but its not a physical object, its a spiritual and psychic connection, and the actual core itself is as flexible as you are. If you want it to expand, it will" Luna explained, and Harry thought about that.
"Is it like a persons mind palace?" Harry asked, and Luna looked momentarily surprised before her face lit up with a proud smile.
"Yes, that's a discovery that took wixen thousands of years to make, but you can access the magical core through Occlumency" Luna said, and Harry's ears began to burn as the two of them looked at him.
"So... How do I do this?" Harry asked, and pulled a crystal the size of his fist out of her bag.
Neville gently accepted Teddy into his arms, while Luna motioned for him to follow her. Teddy made a discontent sound, but eventually settled down as Neville rocked in slow soothing circles, while Harry followed behind Luna.
They descended downstairs, passed the cellar, and several flights of stairs to the Black's Ritual Room. Carved out of a single piece of enchanted stone, the room was engraved with layers of runes that practically glowed with power and the echoes of unknown rituals lingered in its walls. Generations of Black's had sunk so much of their magic into this 10 x 10 room; bomb could go off down there and the townhouse wouldn't even shift.
Luna had a seat in the center of a circle that was carved into the rock, the lines stained with what looked suspiciously like blood, motioning for Harry to do the same, then set the crystal between them.
"Match me" Luna said, giving him an encouraging smile as she held her hands out, her magical aura enveloping her. Harry slid his hands into hers, and expanded his aura to fill the room, the crystal flickering weakly as it sat in the circle of their arms.
"Now close your eyes, and fall into your magic" Luna said, and Harry felt his shoulders relax as he allowed himself to lower his guard fully for the first time since the Final Battle.
With a small exhale, Harry let his mind clear and allowed himself to float in the feeling of his magic.
"Can you feel me?" Luna's voice came far away, distant and yet right in front of him, and Harry vaguely felt himself nodding, "Follow my magic" Luna told him, and Harry felt as her magic slowly mingled with Harry's, gently brushing against his skin, then sinking deeper.
The taste of ozone settled on the back of his tongue. A flash of heat rising from beneath him, then a gust of cold wind on his face.
"Open your eyes" Luna's voice came from everywhere and yet nowhere, and Harry obeyed.
Harry floated in the middle of a lightning storm, thousands of feet above the ground, so high that he couldn't even see the ground below. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, rain falling in a deluge, and phantom wind howled, but Harry was untouched by all of it as he floated inside the eye of the storm.
Lightning lashed around him, electrifying the air and magic all the hair on his body stand up, and urging him to rise higher and higher, the storm building around him.
"What do you see?" Luna's voice returned.
"I'm inside a storm... I can't see the ground... I'm getting higher" Harry's voice echoed, and distantly, Harry felt Luna's hands tighten in his.
"Can you feel the edges of the storm?" Luna asked, and Harry furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around him, clouds parted above him, sunlight warmed his face, and Harry realized that the storm was maybe 50 feet wide, in a perfect circle around him.
"50 feet wide" Harry's voice was getting more distant.
"Breath in. Hold it. Feel the storm inside you. Now, when you exhale Ineed to expand the edges of the storm... Now" Luna's voice demanded, and Harry clung to her voice.
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
The storm shook, and flowed outwards, at first inches, then slowly a foot, then two... Finally, at 10 feet, Harry felt like a pressure on his chest had released, and Harry found himself floating gently several feet, the storm followed him.
"Good, Harry" Luna's voice was warm, and clearer, as if she were standing behind a door, rather than down the hall.
Inhale. Hold. Exhale.
Another 10 feet.
Again.
-Harry's eyes snapped open as he fell back into his body, his body covered in a layer of sweat, and his body humming like he'd just played a game of tag with a lightning bolt.
"Easy" Luna soothed, her hands still gripped in his, the crystal between then was practically vibrating with excess magic, but Luna still hadn't released his hands.
"Is that enough?" Harry asked, his breathing labored like he'd just run 10 laps around Hogwarts grounds.
"You tell me" Luna smiled, and Harry assessed how body, feeling both exhausted, and yet also lighter than he'd felt in weeks.
"I can't do anymore right now" Harry said, and Luna nodded in agreement.
"Its best not to push yourself too much, give your body a few weeks to adjust to the new space, then we'll reassess. Besides," Luna said, pulling her hands free, the crystal pulsed brightly enough to make black spots form in Harry's vision, then faded to a low glow. Luna picked up the crystal gently, like it was a deadly weapon "now we have our ticket out of here" Luna smiled iridescently.
"Are you sure that's enough magic to transfer 4 people to another dimension?" Harry asked, doubtful, and she gave him an inscrutable look.
"Oh, most definitely," Luna said, "You released enough magic to power a thousand rituals, it'll make a nice family heirloom when we get to our new home" Luna beamed, and carefully got to her feet.
Harry followed her, and only then realized that the supposedly indestructible Black Ritual Room now sported thousands of hairline cracks through nearly every inch of the enchanted stone, the lines pulsed with golden light.
"Uh... Did I... Break the room?" Harry asked warily, and Luna beamed at him.
"Oh, yes, but I suspect your magic will seal the cracks and feed the magic, making it the strongest Ritual Chamber in Britain" Luna said breezily, than practically floated out of the room.