Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Desperate Measure
It was past two in the afternoon, and Harry had yet to get his hands dirty. Though he still felt ready to take a shower, after dealing with bureaucrats all day. Paper pushers and politicians kept trying to swaddle him with procedures and processes. Only Hermione's insistence that Harry try to play nice, kept him from expelling the lot of them from the grounds and paying to rebuild Hogwarts completely free from their interference.
After all, enough of the founders' families, had left him as their heir - not to mention the reparations owed to him by the House of Gaunt, that Harry could claim the largest stake among all the descendants of the Founders. An argument that couldn't really stand up in court, at least not simply, but would be praised in the Daily Wizard, even if he had to write it himself, not that Luna would let him. Luna would send him an advance copy for him to edit, with everything he would have written if she hadn't seen him writing it. Of the few rules of the school Dumbledore had actually followed, Harry couldn't understand why requiring Luna to take an inhibitor potion had been one of them.
Hermione had with her team of 'experts', that really seemed to awed of someone half their age to be healthy, had declared that the wild magic would be too active today to work until 4. Apparently something about the full moon occurring during the day would make the whole area extra energized. So Harry started to work through the accumulated mail that had built up. Hedwig hooted from her perch, as Harry began the series of spells to sort the mail, test for spells and hexes, and mute and transcribe howlers. Hedwig only was allowed to bring mail to Hermione now, and it was clear the owl knew when Harry was only making work for her. Somehow it had been made clear to Harry that the only reason Harry was getting away with it was that Hedwig was humoring him.
Harry recorded in his logbook the hexed mail's supposed sender and spell signature by hand, then used the copy spell to record the contents. Unfortunately they hadn't yet found a way do all 3 in one; the only one Hermione had found only recorded the stated sender and the contents. Most people who sent nasty hexes didn't leave a name, or left someone else's (Harry got a lot of hexes from the dead), and wards could only rebound with a magical signature anyway. So Harry just did his best to avoid reading the contents of the letters, not wanting to spoil the rest of his day. The log was charmed to beep if a specific or immediate time was mentioned.
After logging in all the hexed letters, Harry gave into temptation and grabbed the big boxes from Salem Book Company. With a final spell to check for any noxious substances, Harry tore into the first box, and slipping his hands under the ads and invoice, pulled out the books. American Wizards, it seemed, had far more instructional home repair manuals and great 'career re-education' manuals for adult independent study.
At 3 Harry ventured out of the tent, holding in front of him a door sized lattice weave of thin lead wires that despite being reinforced by a framework of aluminum pipes, was slumping a bit under its own weight. He had no idea how much if any it would ward off the spurts of wild magic that had been so bright the hour before that bursts of light had shone through the seams of the tent, like lightning. The rubber intertube that Harry had slit to use as a covering for the center handle bar provided little comfort to his hands, with the death grip he had to keep, to hold the shield up. It was like walking into a near gale force wind, with an umbrella in front of him. Despite the lattice structure, wild magic didn't pass the lead, verifying Harry's theory.
Harry slowly moved backwards, and went back into the tent. Marveling that the tent showed none of the pressure the shield seemed to. Setting the shield against the post he'd created for it earlier Harry quickly did a series of tests with his wand. The aluminum frame - all behind the lead showed no significant temperature change. The lead however was a bit warmer but barely a degree. Now it was time for his next experiment.
Given the strength of the disturbance today, Harry set aside the idea of using the copper wire he had acquired, instead using copper tubing he constructed a series of 3 concentric circles, connected to the lead shield with rubber clamps, and each circle with a thick rope of insulated copper connected to the bottom. The wires trailed off about 20 feet, connecting to a copper stake. Layering asbestos lined mitts over his dragonhide gloves Harry went once more into the breach.
Harry stepped out, expecting to have to force his way forward, and nearly toppled over as the force was greatly decreased. The wires became stiff, digging into the ground, solid until the point that they passed the lead shield. Harry crept forward, wanting to halve the distance between their tent and the ruins. As soon as he had reached the granite holder he'd placed days ago, Harry reached with his wandless magic to plant the stake at a 45 degree angle from the plane of the shield.
With the shield on it holder, Harry finally could enjoy the light show of the magic pulsing from the ruins, swirling into the copper rings, and down into the soil. Harry sprinted back to the tent, as he saw the wild magic starting to spill into the void left by the shield. Knowing that the force of the wild magics crashing together in the void might be enough to destroy the tent, Harry forced his magic into his legs to increase his speed, while thanking fate for his laziness. As soon as Harry got in the tent, he grabbed a handful of lead pipes, and went back out, spiking the lead pipes in the ground in wide arc centered on the shield, and the flap of the tent. His hair began rising on the back of his neck, as he levitated the full load out of the tent by focusing on the pallet it was on. Grabbing another handful he stuck them in between those he'd already placed. Then conjured ropes to strap the rest to the pallet, and ran inside.
Hermione wasn't going to be impressed. Especially if that copper melted.
After all, enough of the founders' families, had left him as their heir - not to mention the reparations owed to him by the House of Gaunt, that Harry could claim the largest stake among all the descendants of the Founders. An argument that couldn't really stand up in court, at least not simply, but would be praised in the Daily Wizard, even if he had to write it himself, not that Luna would let him. Luna would send him an advance copy for him to edit, with everything he would have written if she hadn't seen him writing it. Of the few rules of the school Dumbledore had actually followed, Harry couldn't understand why requiring Luna to take an inhibitor potion had been one of them.
Hermione had with her team of 'experts', that really seemed to awed of someone half their age to be healthy, had declared that the wild magic would be too active today to work until 4. Apparently something about the full moon occurring during the day would make the whole area extra energized. So Harry started to work through the accumulated mail that had built up. Hedwig hooted from her perch, as Harry began the series of spells to sort the mail, test for spells and hexes, and mute and transcribe howlers. Hedwig only was allowed to bring mail to Hermione now, and it was clear the owl knew when Harry was only making work for her. Somehow it had been made clear to Harry that the only reason Harry was getting away with it was that Hedwig was humoring him.
Harry recorded in his logbook the hexed mail's supposed sender and spell signature by hand, then used the copy spell to record the contents. Unfortunately they hadn't yet found a way do all 3 in one; the only one Hermione had found only recorded the stated sender and the contents. Most people who sent nasty hexes didn't leave a name, or left someone else's (Harry got a lot of hexes from the dead), and wards could only rebound with a magical signature anyway. So Harry just did his best to avoid reading the contents of the letters, not wanting to spoil the rest of his day. The log was charmed to beep if a specific or immediate time was mentioned.
After logging in all the hexed letters, Harry gave into temptation and grabbed the big boxes from Salem Book Company. With a final spell to check for any noxious substances, Harry tore into the first box, and slipping his hands under the ads and invoice, pulled out the books. American Wizards, it seemed, had far more instructional home repair manuals and great 'career re-education' manuals for adult independent study.
At 3 Harry ventured out of the tent, holding in front of him a door sized lattice weave of thin lead wires that despite being reinforced by a framework of aluminum pipes, was slumping a bit under its own weight. He had no idea how much if any it would ward off the spurts of wild magic that had been so bright the hour before that bursts of light had shone through the seams of the tent, like lightning. The rubber intertube that Harry had slit to use as a covering for the center handle bar provided little comfort to his hands, with the death grip he had to keep, to hold the shield up. It was like walking into a near gale force wind, with an umbrella in front of him. Despite the lattice structure, wild magic didn't pass the lead, verifying Harry's theory.
Harry slowly moved backwards, and went back into the tent. Marveling that the tent showed none of the pressure the shield seemed to. Setting the shield against the post he'd created for it earlier Harry quickly did a series of tests with his wand. The aluminum frame - all behind the lead showed no significant temperature change. The lead however was a bit warmer but barely a degree. Now it was time for his next experiment.
Given the strength of the disturbance today, Harry set aside the idea of using the copper wire he had acquired, instead using copper tubing he constructed a series of 3 concentric circles, connected to the lead shield with rubber clamps, and each circle with a thick rope of insulated copper connected to the bottom. The wires trailed off about 20 feet, connecting to a copper stake. Layering asbestos lined mitts over his dragonhide gloves Harry went once more into the breach.
Harry stepped out, expecting to have to force his way forward, and nearly toppled over as the force was greatly decreased. The wires became stiff, digging into the ground, solid until the point that they passed the lead shield. Harry crept forward, wanting to halve the distance between their tent and the ruins. As soon as he had reached the granite holder he'd placed days ago, Harry reached with his wandless magic to plant the stake at a 45 degree angle from the plane of the shield.
With the shield on it holder, Harry finally could enjoy the light show of the magic pulsing from the ruins, swirling into the copper rings, and down into the soil. Harry sprinted back to the tent, as he saw the wild magic starting to spill into the void left by the shield. Knowing that the force of the wild magics crashing together in the void might be enough to destroy the tent, Harry forced his magic into his legs to increase his speed, while thanking fate for his laziness. As soon as Harry got in the tent, he grabbed a handful of lead pipes, and went back out, spiking the lead pipes in the ground in wide arc centered on the shield, and the flap of the tent. His hair began rising on the back of his neck, as he levitated the full load out of the tent by focusing on the pallet it was on. Grabbing another handful he stuck them in between those he'd already placed. Then conjured ropes to strap the rest to the pallet, and ran inside.
Hermione wasn't going to be impressed. Especially if that copper melted.
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