Chapter 14
“Well at least the portraits are back.” Harry said.
“And mostly together.” Fred added on.
“Though some of them…” George said, trailing off as he pointed out a few paintings that had their paint swirled around into odd spirals.
“I said back, not back to nor-“ Harry began, being cut off when someone launched themselves into him.
“Ron?”
“Harry! Wait, Luna? Fred, George? What are you guys doing here?”
“Oh, a bit of everything really.” Luna replied airily.
“Okay, what’s going? Hermione and I heard this loud gong type noise.”
“Why does that mean I was doing anything?”
“Really? After the, uh, conversation we had? And you’re with the Twins and Luna. Oh, also the tentacles that I saw when you stumbled back just now. You’re definitely responsible somehow.”
“It’s…” Harry said, sighing to himself. “It’s complicated, okay? I… I can’t really tell you right now, there are still a few things for us to settle before that can happen.”
“By us, do you mean you four or…?” Ron asked, leaving the true question unspoken.
“A little of both, actually.” Harry said, rubbing his fingers against his temple. “As well as something else. Actually, now that I think about it, can you think of any situation where a wizard wouldn’t have their wand on them?”
“Uh, mostly when they’re bathing and sleeping, I think. At least that’s the case for Mum and Dad.”
“Do they cast any spells where they store them beforehand?”
“I don’t think so?” Ron said, looking pensive. “I mean, most people wouldn’t really think about touching someone else’s wand if it wasn’t necessary.”
“Lovegood, chances on him having some form of protection on wherever it’s stored?”
“Given his life experiences? I would say more likely than not.”
“My thoughts as well. Fred, George, you wouldn’t happen to be able to cast such spells, would you?”
“A few, though nothing of the sort that he would be able to cast.”
“Yeah, ours are mostly alert charms and a few defensive measures.”
Before Harry said anything, he glanced over at Ron, who was giving the four of them a long, considering look.
“Ron, before you say anything, what we’re planning is a prosecutable offence. Us being minors wouldn’t protect us, and the minimum sentence would be a decade in Azkaban.”
“Minimum or maximum wing?” Ron asked, still looking contemplative.
“Maximum.”
“Well, let us know if we can help?”
“Of course. See you later.” Harry said, grabbing the Twins and Luna before enveloping them all in shadows.
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“Was it really a good idea to show Ron your shadow thingy?”
“Are you two done charming the lockbox?”
“Uh, no?”
“That’s what I thought.” Harry said, carefully embroidering a pair of fingerless gloves. “So no talking until you’re done.”
Looking over at Harry from where she was carefully painting wooden boards, Luna spoke.
“Fred does have a point though. Are you really certain you should have done that?”
“Ron and Hermione…” Harry began, pausing in his task. “They might be respecting that I need to keep secrets right now, but they also… they can’t leave something alone when they get interested in it. Giving them something, like shadow magic, is going to distract them enough that they’ll lose focus on the bigger picture for a while. At least I hope it will.”
Luna’s response was a simple non-committal hum as she returned her full attention to finishing her task. The silence that pervaded the Chamber of Secrets was disturbed when Fred and George walked over to where Luna and Harry were sitting, placing the lockbox they had been working on in front of him.
“So, why are you embroidering gloves, and why is Luna painting what looks like a wooden pentagon?”
“It’s the base for an Arcane Enchanter.” Harry said, sighing to himself. “As for me, I’m preparing to bastardize the art of enchanting by combining multiple different styles.”
“And you’re enchanting those gloves to do… what, exactly?”
“Have you ever heard of a game called Dungeons and Dragons?”
“Vaguely. Some muggleborns mention it occasionally.”
“It’s a fantasy roleplaying game, based on the concept of sword and sorcery. One of the spells that the magic based classes can use is called Knock, it lets you unlock almost anything, though it has its exceptions. Lovegood, are you finished?”
Luna’s response was shoving the assembled Arcane Enchanter in front of Harry, who promptly grabbed the soul gem next to him, laying it in the center of the pentagon, placing the gloves he had finished embroidering on the left and right spokes. Placing his hands on the bottom spokes, Harry closed his eyes.
It was a slow process, at first. The sphere in the center, an imitation of a sigil stone, began to glow first, emitting a sea-green glow as Harry’s eyes began to glow underneath his lids. Then, a gentle breeze began, ruffling Harry’s hair about, swirling the smoke and flames of the magetallow candles upward, culminating in a radial flash of light.
“That was… dramatic.”
“It’s enchanting, Fred. Of course it’s going to be dramatic.” Harry said, slipping the gloves on and tightening the straps. “Now, to test if they work.”
What followed was a series of tests, involving wearing the gloves, not wearing the gloves, wearing them while wreathed in shadow, not wearing them while wreathed in shadow, and last, but not least, wearing them while only his hands were visible.
In the end, it was determined that, yes the gloves worked, no they didn’t work while they were in the shadows, the wards that the Twins knew weren’t advanced enough to circumvent shadow magic, and Harry was able to keep part of himself not in the shadows.
“Well, it looks like we have the beginnings of a plan.”