Chapter forty-one. Bearing and Deportment
- Pick up your wand, we will try again - intoned Snape.
Hermione got to her feet in a fraction of a second. A flash of light rushed at her almost immediately, she cut it with a non-verbal spell, a half of the wall of blinding light vanished, but the other half had almost reached her, falling in splashes before her nose at the last moment. She unscrewed her face and saw Snape lower their wand, their expression inscrutable.
- What is it, Professor? It happened again! - said Hermione in exasperation, panting.
Snape seemed to be reluctant to give the answer, unsure of something... When they spoke, they sounded as though they weighed every word.
- It seems, that such a Dark curse cannot be successfully repelled by usual magic, if, however, a simple Dark component was added...
- I don't understand, Professor, we are supposed to be fighting the Dark Arts, would it be so, if we use them ourselves?
- I need you to understand _ - Snape paused, choosing words carefully - _that the distinction between those two kinds of magic rely on values, ethics. Now, some would say that they are transcendent or essential, and you will be hard pushed to prove the contrary, but there are other aspects that need to be taken into account, such as the effects of our actions on tangible entities, not only intellectual or spiritual constructs. So, acceptance of the relativity of values might represent a crucial point. As to the distinction, it was made ages ago by a set of wizards, and I am afraid I couldn't wholeheartedly add witches, with a particular view on the question how things should be done. If you are on the path of the critical approach, you need to know what is in the core of a spell, what it implies, what does it take, then, decide whether to use it or not.
- Do you think I can see what implies the Dark component, you were talking about, Professor?
- For now it is not of the utmost importance: I can tell you.
- But it will be your reading of the spell, Professor, what if you are wrong?
- I can provide you with references, of course. Like that, if there was a mistake, it would certainly be one of the magical community . It is only possible, however, to some extent, there will come a time when it will, indeed, be down to my opinion, I couldn't prove my point by any prior research, then, naturally, you will be allowed to take a separate path.
- Does this component enhance any spell I might need, or just this one, Professor?
- Neither, it works for a specific group of spells, that are in your schedule.
- And, if it was possible to describe briefly, could you please name the notion in its core, Professor ?
- That notion would be Treachery.
In a vast room with an enormous gothic windows behind a raven black desk sat a tall woman in a tight dragon skin costume. She wrote, sometimes speaking to herself for clarity of thought.
Half an hour went by. She approached the window, an ebony crow flew up to her prepared to carry a letter.
- Thank you, Cecidit, not today. - she said, put an enchantment on the paper, making it fly away by itself, and returned to her writing.
Soon another piece of paper flew into the room, she ripped off the seal and read it.
- Of course! As if they would tell me if they knew!
She turned the paper, read again but aloud this time:
- "... and I would not tell you, if I knew..."
- Oh, they even wrote it down! Never mind, I will discover their identity myself.
She drawn a spell hovering in midair, took a heavy book from the shelf and started to peruse it.
Hermione was sitting on the ground in the forest, drawing a complicated spell, she heard approaching footsteps and hastily threw her cloak on it, getting up, but still hiding in the bushes. She was sure she had heard someone approach from her left, now, everything went suspiciously quiet... Suddenly she cast a spell in the air and received a response, a wall of light closing in on her, so quick and powerful that she couldn't even think about the defensive incantation. In a second she was pushed toward a tree, immobilized and silenced. A person then appeared right in front of her.
- This won't be necessary - said Renee, pointing at the hidden spell - there's a shorter way.
She grasped her arm and disappeared.
They were walking between some trees, only it wasn't in the forest anymore. Zabini spoke:
- So, tell me, why were you trying to get here?
- It is none of your business.
- I just thought as it is my property... I ought to know... Well, anyway, you are where you wanted to be, that is what matters, right?
They walked down a large path straight in the direction of Zabini manor.
They sat in a spacious room in dragon leather armchairs, grandfather clock jingled away with a sort of mesmerizing hollow echo.
- ...
- Professor Snape told me about two kinds of magic, and how it is all about values.
- Of course, they did. Sna_Professor Snape, as well as Dumbledore, or _the Dark Lord truly believe that. According to the paradigm of values, our surroundings behold some kind of meaning, and Magic is a set of means that enables us to communicate with it. But there's another point of view : Magic is an extention of physical rules, rooted in the deepest understanding of the matter, there's no meaning in solid stones, no creation, no purpose, only what they can do and what we can make of it.
- But, but... It makes no sense for enchantments that are purely linked with ethics like the Unbreakable Vow _
- I may have to disagree with you. This type of enchantment uses both. Pure ideas, obviously, wouldn't work. I need you to bear with me for a second, this type of spells uses words, language to work, therefore, has meaning, BUT it was created by the wizarding community, everything that has to do with nature and physics only, however, isn't inherently connected with societal notions, can work without any necessity to resort to Good or Bad, whatever those are_ No need to implement in your art _treachery component, for instance.
- Why, why I've never heard about this before?
- Matter of convention _and knowledge.
- From what you said, I gather that this magic does not require language, but then the spell I was drawing in order to get in here must be...
- It is.
Renee stood up and walked towards a tall longcase clock.
- Take a look at this, the pendulum, here.
- It looks familiar... Isn't it the time part of a Transportation spell I've almost drawn today?
- Yes.
- Is it your family heirloom, or...
- No, it isn't. - (Renee started to pace across the room) - My parents were, as many wizards, woefully unaware of this theory, I came across it while studying by myself. I procured this clock later by chance... Nothing of importance, I took it merely as an example, the object itself is irrelevant.
Hermione looked at the clock and then, grinning, at Zabini, who observed her casually, and then almost imperceptibly smiled her back.
It was very unusual for a Death Eater obsessed with purity of magic to possess any item from a non-magical world, although she did put an enchantment on it that made it pass for a magical artifact to anyone who wasn't raised by non-magical people like Hermione.