WAKING early on the Sunday after Halloween, I left Gryffindor Tower before any of my dorm-mates were up. I'd been sitting by the lake with my three friends the previous afternoon, reading The Enchanter's Primer, and had found several Charms that were used to analyze magical objects which I wanted to try on the Marauder's Map.
The halls of the castle were empty this soon after sunrise on a Saturday, and I was quickly situated in my now-familiar study in the Room of Requirement. I set the blank Map down on the table and set to work attempting to cast Apercium, the Revealing Charm. According to the Primer, this charm was quite easily defeated by a variety of means, but there were more advanced variations which could only be learned after sufficient mastery of the base spell.
After an hour of trial and error, I managed to cast the charm. As I'd expected, rather than revealing the Map itself, Apercium merely caused it to display a series of personal insults directed at the caster. The next step was far more laborious; I had to combine the Revealing Charm with whatever Charm I suspected the object had been enchanted with.
I worked through the hours breakfast was being served in the Great Hall, testing the Map for some of the basic enchantments listed in the Primer. I confirmed that I was able to cast variations of Apercium by testing for the Concealment Charm, which the Revealing Charm countered and therefore must have been cast on the Map to conceal the insulting-mode. The map had glowed blue, indicating that the Concealment Charm had indeed been used.
"Apercium Proteo!"
I twirled my wand through two and a half loops of a descending helix, punctuated by tapping the map twice, and was rewarded by the parchment glowing a soft violet. Finally, some progress! A violet glow meant some variation of a charm had been used, in this case the Protean Charm, which Hermione had used to create the Defense Association meeting-coins in the books.
Unfortunately, I didn't know the incantations for any variants of the Protean Charm, so I couldn't further test the map to determine which one was in effect. I was getting hungrier by the minute, so I decided to get in a work out, then return to Gryffindor Tower and have a shower before grabbing lunch.
I ran into Ron and Neville in the Great Hall, and Ron suggested we go take turns flying my Nimbus 2000 on the Quidditch Pitch. Neville joined us, though it took some convincing. He spent most of the time stretched out on the grass below us, leafing through a massive tome on Herbology, but we managed to get him to take a few turns on the broom. He was a bit of a shaky flyer, and didn't venture more than few paces above the ground, but his skills had definitely improved since his first catastrophic Flying lesson.
Afterwards I hurried to the library, where I saw Hermione scribbling away on a parchment, with a huge stack of books piled on the table she was sitting at. The other tables were full of mostly older students, so I took a seat next to her after finding a pair of books that looked useful. The first was simply titled Reparo, and contained dozens of variations of the Mending Charm.
The basic charm could repair almost anything, but required a great deal of mental focus and knowledge of the item being repaired to work properly. The variants, which included Oculus Repairo for fixing broken eyeglasses, were much easier to cast but only worked on the specific type of items that they were intended for.
The second, The Protean Charm in Practice, was a treatise on the uses of the Protean Charm with a few chapters on several of its common variants. Much like the Mending Charm, the basic charm was quite flexible but incredibly difficult to master, while the variants allowed less skilled wizards to accomplish much more specific tasks. However, deep familiarity with the specific variants would eventually lead to being able to just use the base charm for those tasks.
I took copious notes, and had filled nearly ten pages on each of the books in my Variable Volume by dinner time.
"I'm getting rather hungry, Harry. Should we head down for dinner?" Hermione asked, whispering so as not to draw Madame Pince's ire.
"Sure, I could use some food."
We left the library, and I asked Hermione what she had been working on. She told me that she'd been researching methods to magically transcribe text, trying to find out how our Professors made a full chalkboard of writing appear with a mere swish of their wands. Writing with a quill and ink was too laborious, and she often had to recopy her homework assignments several times before she was satisfied with her penmanship, and she was hoping to find some magic that would increase her efficiency in this regard.
While she'd been unable to find out how the Professors did their trick with the chalkboards, she'd found a number of useful charms that would help her. The first was the Copying Charm, which would copy the contents of a paper onto one placed beneath it. This had led her to investigate the Anti-Copying Charm, which most books were enchanted with to prevent their unauthorized duplication.
Her second find was the Correction Charm. Only useful on a few words or a sentence written in ink on parchment, it would allow the caster to focus on a correction to the desired phrase, causing the ink to be drawn out of the page and reform itself into the corrected text.
"Wow, those sound really useful! Think we could work together on learning them?"
"Sure, Harry, I'd love some help. Want to get started tonight after dinner?"
"Sounds great," I said. "I've also got a thought on how the Professors might be doing their trick. Maybe they write it out by hand before class, and then cast the Concealment Charm on it. Then they just cast the Revealing Charm in class."
Hermione slapped her forehead.
"Why didn't I think of that? Yes, that makes perfect sense. They probably don't want us distracted by whatever's written on the board until they're ready for us to read it."
"Let's ask Professor Flitwick next time in Charms. I doubt it's a secret."
Our conversation paused as we reached the Great Hall, where we joined our Housemates for dinner. The talk around Gryffindor table largely revolved around the first Quidditch match on the coming Saturday, where we would be facing Slytherin. There was plenty of worrying over whether I would be able to keep up with Slytherin's Seeker, Terrence Higgs, who had the advantage of several years of experience over me.
I was gratified when my teammates, who had all played against Terrence before, defended me vociferously, reassuring the rest of the House that I was already very competent and would easily match Higgs. They were more concerned about Slytherin's tendency to play dirty and foul whenever and wherever Madame Hooch wasn't looking.
On the way back from dinner, I invited Ron and Neville to join Hermione and me in our efforts to learn the Copying and Correction Charms, but they both begged off, as they hadn't yet finished the Charms essay we had due tomorrow on the Alohomora.
Back in Gryffindor Tower, I decided to make good on my plan to try to reach out to the other First Years. Lavender and Parvati had already headed up the stairs to the girls dormitory, so I approached Dean and Seamus.
"Hey mates, Hermione and I are going to try to learn a couple of Charms that we think will be pretty useful. The Copying Charm let's you copy pages - kind of like a Muggle Xerox machine - and the Correction Charm let's you fix mistakes in things you've written. They aren't covered until Third Year Charms but we think they'll make doing homework a lot easier and wanted to see if we could figure them out. Want to join us?"
"Oh wow, those sound really useful," said Dean. "I'm in."
"Yeah, those would come in handy, but I've still got that Charms essay for tomorrow, didn't feel like starting it over the weekend," Seamus said with a sigh.
"Ron and Neville are working on it too, if you want some company," I told him, gesturing to the pair of couches where the two were sitting, leafing through the Charms textbook.
"Oh, thanks Harry, that'd be great."
Seamus went over to them, while Dean and I joined Hermione where she was already sitting in a far corner of the room, arranging the notes she'd taken earlier on the table in front of her. We were short a chair, so I pulled out my wand and levitated one over. Dean raised his eyebrows, impressed.
"You're really good at that! It was awesome how you two and Ron helped the rest of us learn it last week. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you already know it?"
Hermione looked up and answered him.
"Harry learned it over the summer. Ron and I shared a compartment with him on the Express, and he taught it to us."
"I thought we weren't supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts?" Dean asked, forehead crinkled in confusion.
"That's true, Dean," Hermione said, sounding slightly guilty. "I didn't know that, and tried quite a few spells myself over the summer. I asked Professor McGonagall about it, and she explained that the rule only applies to Hogwarts students - and we weren't technically students yet. Now that we've been attending school, we won't be able to do any magic next summer."
"Really?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "Ron always complains about Fred and George pranking him over the summer, and he said they levitated him into the pond behind his house."
Hermione frowned. "You're right, I remember him tell us that. That's strange; they should have gotten in trouble for violating the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery of 1875. Are you sure they didn't get a warning letter?"
"Ron didn't mention it," I said. "We'll have to ask him about that. Later though; I really want to see if we can figure out these Charms."
Dean wanted to try the Copying Charm first, while Hermione was more interested in the Correction Charm, so we decided to divide our efforts. Hermione handed Dean her notes on the Copying Charm, while I joined her in working on the Correction Charm.
We had been at it for more than an hour, and Hermione and I had only achieved limited success, getting the ink to puddle up on the paper but not reform into our desired correction, when Dean let out a victorious shout.
"Check it out guys, I got it!"
He placed a blank parchment down on the table, and then placed another on top of, which contained a drawing of a man drawing back his foot to kick a soccer ball. He tapped the top sheet in each of its four corners, then swished his wand back and forth above the sheet.
"Scribus Replicatus!"
The lines of the drawing grew slightly darker and thicker, then reverted to their original appearance. He lifted it up with a flourish, revealing that the previously blank parchment beneath it now contained a faded copy of the original drawing.
"Look! It's a bit faded, but that's awesome!" he enthused, grinning.
"Great work, Dean," Hermione said eagerly. "Let me try! Swish from left to right, then right to left, right?"
With Dean's help, we both managed the Charm another half hour, then returned to attempting the Correction Charm with renewed vigor from our success. Again, Dean was the first to master it, and he seemed equally proud and surprised that he'd gotten it before both Hermione and me.
"You guys are always so quick to pick up everything in class, I thought I'd just be slowing you down tonight. Never thought I'd be first to figure out both of them."
"Did you draw that picture you were copying?" I asked. "It was really good."
"Thanks! Yeah, I love drawing. Been doing it since I was really young."
Hermione quickly caught on to the direction of my thoughts.
"Oh, I bet that's why you're so good at these spells. I've been doing some reading on Magical Theory, and one of the major elements of using magic is Affinity. If you're experienced doing something without magic, you'll usually have an easier time picking up spells that do something similar."
"So because I draw a lot, it's easier for me to learn Charms that have to do with drawing?" Dean asked.
"Seems like a good theory," I said.
"Wicked! I need to see if I can find out how to make my drawings animated. I've seen some of the older kids doing it and it looks like loads of fun."
"Not until you help us learn the Correction Charm!" Hermione interjected, her voice rather shrill, then blushed. "If you don't mind, of course."
"Of course, Hermione!" Dean replied with a grin. "That was the deal, after all. I'm just glad I finally get to teach you two something."
After another hour of practice Hermione and I were finally able to perform the Correction Charm, though the corrected writing came out blotchy and misshapen. Dean had improved to the point where his handwriting actually looked better after using the Charm.
"This is great," he said. "Looks like my handwriting when I use a normal pen. Err, a Muggle pen, I mean. I'm still getting the hang of these quills we're supposed to use."
"That makes sense," I mused. "You're probably really good at visualizing things, with all the drawing you do."
"Yeah, at this point I usually see the whole drawing in my head before I even pick up my pen. I'm heading to bed; this was exhausting, but really cool. Thanks so much for letting me work with you. I didn't even know about either of those spells."
"Of course, Dean, I'm glad you joined us. We'd probably still be struggling with them if it weren't for your help," Hermione said with a bright smile.
"For sure," I agreed. "Let us know if you want some company figuring out how to animate your drawings. That sounds pretty neat."
"Definitely," he said, standing up. "See you tomorrow, Hermione, and see you upstairs, Harry."
"Good night!" Hermione and I chorused, and then I turned to her as he walked away.
"Bit more practice before bed?" I asked. She nodded, a determined glint in her eyes, and we continued to drill for another hour, until we were both able to at least match the quality of our original handwriting.
The next week passed in a blur of classes and Quidditch practice, the few nights we weren't out on the Pitch spent catching up on homework. The weather had taken a decided wintery turn in the last few days, and the Saturday of the match dawned bright and clear but cold and windy.
My nerves running high, the morning stuttered by in a jarring series of scenes. Being shaken awake by an excited Ron Weasley. Eating a bite of toast in the Great Hall. Putting on the left arm guard of my Quidditch gear in the locker room. Oliver Wood saying the last few words of his pre-game pep speech. Madame Hooch releasing the Snitch to the roar of the crowds filling the stands.
I was up in the air, circling high above in the open sky, a few paces behind Slytherin's Seeker, when my thoughts resumed flowing in a continuous stream. The sounds of the crowds below were diminished to a muted hum that blended with the sound of the air whistling past my ears and my Quidditch robes snapping in the wind of my passage.
My gaze swept the sky in sweeping arcs, head swiveling from side to side. My focus switched between tracking the two Bludgers, keeping up with the Slytherin Seeker, and monitoring the state of the game below me, while always staying alert for the Snitch.
My female teammates scored the first few goals, galvanizing the Slytherins into a frenetic effort that earned them a tied score. They slowed down to catch their breaths, and Gryffindor stepped on the gas and regained the lead. This pattern repeated for cycles and I had seen no sign of the Snitch, when Higgs suddenly plummeted in a steep dive.
I swooped down after him, eyes searching ahead for the Snitch, but only saw the green grass of the Pitch rushing up at me. I called his feint and pulled up on my broomstick moments before he did the same, levelling off a few feet below me, mere paces above the ground.
He cast a smirk back at me but I only saw it out of the corner of my eye, already back to scanning the sky above. We had ended up down beneath the Gryffindor goalposts, away from the action by the Slytherin goalposts, where the Gryffindor Chasers were pushing the Quaffle forward, dodging their Slytherin counterparts.
Each team's Beaters controlled a Bludger, batting it back and forth, trying to send it hurtling into the opposing team's Chasers. The Bludgers didn't fly in straight lines, however, and their errant courses often sent them hurtling as close to friend as foe. One of the Bludgers nearly hit Alicia as she threw the Quaffle toward a goal, and she almost fell off her broom dodging it. The Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, blocked the shot, smacking the Quaffle toward Marcus Flint.
There! The Snitch was hovering just behind Bletchley's shoulder. I angled my broomstick sharply upward and shot forward in a rapid ascent, aiming toward the center of the Pitch so Higgs wouldn't be able to locate the Snitch by tracking my trajectory. Beneath me I saw Higgs turn around to look for me.
Not seeing me, he looked around frantically, then flew up toward me at full speed when he saw me high above him. Fortunately, the play had moved between us, and he nearly collided with a Slytherin Chaser in his haste to catch me.
Taking advantage of my head start, I flipped the tip of my broom toward the Snitch where it still hovered by the Slytherin goals. As if it sensed my intent, the Snitch darted away in a descending arc, and I pulled hard on my broom to head it off.
Flint, who had been yelling at Higgs for his sloppy flying, caught sight of me over his teammate's shoulder. He sped to cut me off me with a snarl, nearly knocking Higgs off his broom, but the Slytherin Seeker recovered quickly and quickly followed behind Flint. I had narrowed the distance between myself and the Snitch to a few meters when Flint reached me, hurtling directly towards me in a collision course.
With a growl of frustration, I swerved hard to the left, narrowly avoiding the larger boy but losing sight of the Snitch. He sent a triumphant leer in my direction before turning his broom and flying to rejoin the action at the other end of the Pitch. Higgs reversed our previous roles and took to following me, clearly not wanting to lose track of me again after getting chewed out by his Captain.
The Snitch remained elusive for nearly an hour, and I was numb from the cold by the time I sighted it again, now by the section of the stands where the teachers sat. This time Higgs spotted it at the same time I did, and we raced toward it neck and neck. We were closing in on it when my broom suddenly jerked beneath me, trying to throw me like a bucking horse, and I nearly smashed into Higgs.
He swore at me as he dodged out of the way, but I ignored him; it was all I could do to stay on my broom. The Snitch shot right between us, and Higgs nearly caught it, his fingertips inches away, then swerved to follow.
I took in the teachers' section of the stands with a glance; they were all watching me with expressions of consternation except Quirrell, whose eyes were fixed on me as his lips moved silently, and Snape, who was frowning in suspicion, eyes darting between me and Quirrell. After a long moment, his lips began to move as well.
The broom's thrashing calmed down considerably, and I didn't waste any time shooting toward the other end of the Pitch, in that hope that putting as much distance between myself and the teachers as possible would impede Quirrell's attempts at interference. I was catching up with Higgs when he suddenly dove toward the Gryffindor goal posts.
Extrapolating his path, I caught sight of the Snitch, hovering close to the ground by the base of the center post. I raced to cut Higgs off, but he had too much of a lead. He stretched a hand out as he closed in on the Snitch, but the small golden ball swerved out of his reach at the last moment, spiralling up around the goal post.
I adjusted my trajectory in response, aiming toward the hoop at the top of the goal post, gaining on it as it continued to spiral upwards around the metal pole. Below me I saw Higgs barely pulling out of his dive in time before hitting the ground. I was grinning in triumph, hand outstretched toward the Snitch, when my broom jerked violently, ripping itself out of my grasp.
My heart plummeted as I found myself airborne, my broom veering away drunkenly, still thrashing. My momentum carried me straight toward the Snitch, and my hand closed around it instinctively. I threw my other arm out desperately and managed to hook it around the goal post. A sharp pain flared in my shoulder as I whipped around the pole, my face and torso slamming into it painfully.
Somehow, I was able to wrap my legs around the goal post, and I slid down it like a fireman's pole. I was able to slow my descent somewhat by squeezing the pole between my thighs and calves, but I still thudded down at its base in a jarring impact, my knees giving out and my back slamming into the ground.
Dazed, I struggled to my knees, then promptly vomited. I shakily pushed myself to my feet, looking around the Pitch blearily. The crowd was so silent you could hear a pin drop, every eye fixed on me. My heart hammering, I gradually became away of the Snitch squirming in my grip, its wings fluttering madly from between my fingers.
I raised it above my head, and the crowd burst into a roar. Then everything turned bright, the thunderous cheering fading away to an indistinct buzzing, and I collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.