46 Harry Potter : Chapter 46: Turning Point V

Who the hell thinks like this? Orion arched an eyebrow in the direction of the unnaturally tall Slytherin student, who leaned back in his seat as an answer, his open smile the only answer he was willing to give to the Black Heir's silent question while McGonagall's expression clearly stated that the idea caught her interest.

...

Slughorn coughed, trying to bring the conversation back on a more pleasurable track, "To answer your question, dear Minerva, some of the Ministry jobs would become much more difficult if Occlumency was a widely spread practice."

"And there isn't a way to actually verify is a wizard is better than the attacker in the Mind Arts or merely average.

The most basic step of Occlumency is about not giving anything to your attacker, but a master of the art could do much more." Orion added, his expression carefully blank while he tried to come to terms with the endless list of oddities that characterized the three students Slughorn had used the evening to introduce to the Black Heir.

"It's one of the reasons why neither memories seen in a Pensieve nor Veritaserum are allowed in court."

"Much more such as?" Riddle idly crossed his legs while maintaining his usual, polite tone, but the Black Heir was starting to believe that the older student was simply used to keep his natural reactions concealed, and that he was, in fact, very curious about the answer.

"A truly masterful application of Occlumency would allow the user to conceal his thoughts even to himself, to the point of fabricating memories." Slughorn was happy to explain, his eyes showing a brief spark of excitement that was hard to miss.

"It's incredibly useful to cast spells that require a particular mindset, not to mention that as you learn it you acquire a self-discipline that is hard to acquire otherwise."

The thoughtful, deep hum of Hagrid made Orion's breastbone resonate for a split second: "I wonder if there is a potion to outright block external influences."

"Oh, Rubeus, I think that if such a thing could be brewed, it would have been already." the professor's barely suppressed peal of laughter underlined the rolling eyes of Minerva, who muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'of course, he's thinking about potions'.

"I was also wondering if oI could repurpose the Fidelius: what if I can place 'The Secret of my thoughts, into my own Soul'?" the unnaturally tall student scratched his left cheeck for a second, before returning to the present and addressing his Head of House.

"Well, potions can more or less achieve anything, provided the brewer is capable enough and in possession of the right ingredients." Hagrid spoke out loud, while he leaned forward.

His hand missing his empty glass by an inch when he attempted to pick it up from the coffee table, "That a cure for lycanthropy hasn't been found yet is more likely to be caused by a lack of the latter rather than the first, after all, the curse has been around for millennia, and extraordinary potion-makers must have been around."

"Sometimes I forget about your Slytherin-esque ambition, Rubeus." Minerva pinched her nose in faux-exasperation, but it was clear to see that she was thinking about the unnaturally tall third-year's suggestion about asking Dumbledore for instruction in Occlumency.

"What was the project of your first year? Unaided Flight?"

Orion didn't miss the implications of what Hagrid had just said. Even if the Black Heir was just starting to know the unnaturally tall third-year, he could easily see just how much he could accomplish with something resembling founding or endorsement from a family such as the Blacks. At least if his skill was anything comparable with the naked ambition discernible in his ideas.

"If a pixie can fly, you can bet your wand that I'll learn how to do the same!" Hagrid hunched forward on his enlarged seat, his palms resting on his knees for a couple of seconds before he leaned back into the armchair once more, his expression forlorn as he eyed his empty glass.

Slughorn captured Orion's eyes for a second then, only to minutely nod towards the slightly inebriated, freakishly-sized Slytherin.

Slughorn seems to believe in him. That made Orion's eyebrows climb up to his hairline while he sipped for the first time the beverage handed to him by the potion professor.

"You want to learn how to fly and to find a cure for lycanthropy." the Black Heir summed up: "Anything else that even Merlin would think impossible?"

The question was rhetorical, but from the sly smile Hagrid exhibited, Orion was sure that the answer was affirmative: "And you have any idea about how to accomplish either?"

"I haven't gotten around to plan how to fly yet, no." the unnaturally tall Slytherin stretched in his enlarged seat, his long arms and humongous hands reaching far above his head.

And once more, everyone present caught the implication: But I have an idea about how to cure Lycanthropy.

"You mentioned the lack of ingredients." Riddle's interest was now focused on the much taller student, "It doesn't look like something you can easily affect."

Hagrid waved a single finger in Tom's direction: "Ah, but the answer is deceptively simple, isn't it? We use plants and parts of animals to prepare our potions, even our wands are made with those two components: if I lack an ingredient, then I simply have to make one."

Minerva returned into the conversation with a thoughtful hum: "You did mention cross-breeding once before."

This is his solution? Mashing together animals until something useful pops out? Orion didn't bother hiding his disdainful scoff at the idea while he peered at the unnaturally tall Slytherin, who grinned openly, almost challengingly, at the other people present.

"Hyppogriffs were realized leveraging Pride, among other things." from the absent nodding of both Riddle and McGonagall, it was clear that those three ahd already faced the topic.

"Instead of working from the already existing Lion and Eagle, I simply have to imagine the pieces I'd need, and work backwards, I'm sure there are a way or twenty to transfer a property of a creature to a single part of the whole."

"If I'm not mistaken, one of the principles of Alchemy is about bringing together different properties." the Head of House Slytherin mused out loud, the hand not holding his -by now empty- glass rose to his chin.

"I had an interesting conversation with Albus a few years ago, but I can't seem to remember its finer academical points..."

The deep bout of laughter from Hagrid managed to once more reverberate uncomfortably in Orion's ribcage, who beared it while he observed the other wizards zero in on the opportunity hinted at by Slughorn: "If only we knew someone that professor Dumbledore would be willing to teach to on the side..."

"Minerva!" the Slytherin prefect affected surprise by widening his eyes and not quite covering his mouth with his left hand: "You're already studying advanced topics with him aren't you?" Riddle noted idly, a slow smile appearing on his features while he turned slightly towards the Gryffindor witch.

"Maybe you could as about Alchemy, who knows, maybe you've got a knack for it. And we both know just how much you actually like learning something new."

"You only want to profit from my notes on the subject once I've worked through the bulk of the hurdles." Minerva's eyes narrowed at Riddle, who shrugged while opening his hands, as if to say that it was an obvious conclusion.

"Returning to the cross-breeding, "Orion interjected before the annoyed witch could pull her wand on the admittedly infuriating wizards needling her.

"And ignoring its intricacies and pitfalls, there are far more... practical issues."

Hagrid turned once more in his enlarged seat, frowning at the Black Heir: "Such as?"

"The logistic, for one." Orion raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Magical Creatures need care, often an expensive one. Even if dragons are on one extreme, maintaining even a hippogriff herd isn't easy.

From the occasional Obliviation to protect the statute, to proper wards keeping creatures from wandering where they shouldn't, to the specialized caretakers needed to harvest what they naturally shed..."

"I get it." Hagrid huffed irritably, "Money is the big answer to any mundane problem, isn't it?"

"Such is the way of the world." the Black Heir smiled thinly as an answer, holding back the urge to stretch his legs.

"One would think that even the dumbest wizard should be able to see the inherent advantage into a greater biodiversity." Hagrid frowned distastefully at Orion's words.

"If you are serious in your endeavor, once you leave Hogwarts I'd be pleased to write a letter or two, my boy." Slughorn smiled as he reminded everyone that he was a consummate Slytherin, "Mr. Scamander was a student here not that long ago, and he has recently published an almost revolutionary work about the Care of Magical Creatures."

The Black Heir held back a scornful reply: for all of his undeniable skills in the caring of animals of any kind, the more or less infamous Scamander didn't understand the people he so desperately tried to convince to change the approach of.

"I wouldn't want to phrase the safeguard of creatures of any kind as a business... but biodiversity means that there are more possibilities for wizardkind, which is something that could rally the needed support for your project."

"Once you leave Hogwarts, Rubeus." Minerva added with a suspicious glare, which was met with raised arms in the universal gesture of surrender.

"How far do expansion charms go?" Hagrid tried to redirect the conversation while he exchanged an excited grin with Riddle, who apparently had no difficulty in following the thoughts of the younger student.

"Because one of the difficulties of maintaining animals is the space they require, but if a crack in the ground can somehow be transfigured into a valley, well..."

"You'd still need to convince a rather large number of people to join your project." Orion pointed out with a roll of his eyes: Hagrid seemed to type to constantly dream too big with not an ounce of the needed preparation.

"I hoped that with magic compromise wouldn't be necessary." Hagrid let out an almost explosive breath while he cast his head back, his eyes looking aimlessly at the ceiling.

The small group shared a few moments of companionable silence while Slughorn nursed his drink, his cheeks positively flush because of the alcohol.

"You could always conquer a country and force the local Ministry to do your bidding." Minerva chortled after she emptied her own glass, her drink finally finished, "But I think that you'd find the paperwork to be worse than the still-present need to deal with people you find uninteresting."

And with those words, the unnaturally tall Slytherin stilled for a single moment, his relaxed posture locking in place for several seconds before he looked back at the Gryffindor witch. Orion, in his politically-savvy, mind, barely held back a flinch, while Riddle's expression had gone blank, as if anticipating the words that were about to come.

"Maybe I should, shouldn't I?" the tipsy Rubeus bared his teeth, almost like a wolf, somehow managing to appear utterly menacing despite his still being sprawled into his enlarged armchair.

"I could find myself a mountain range, or an island, claim it, and name myself king."

Minerva frowned at the challenging tone, but she answered with a shrug: "Well, you'd be able to make your ramblings on biodiversity matter."

How dismissive. Orion eyed askance at the Gryffindor witch, but he refrained from commenting.

Instead of answering, Hagrid remained sprawled in his chair, his eyes staring hollowly forward as if seeing something completely different than the room they had been sharing for the past lengthy and diverse conversation.

And then, just when the attention of the small group started to slid off him, just when Slughorn managed to shake himself out of his small daze as he noticed the late hour, Rubeus... hummed.

It wasn't the distracted hum one did for himself while thinking about something completely different, it wasn't the occasional rumble of laughter that had annoyingly resonated with Orion's ribcage during the unusual evening.

It was a loud, deep sound that escaped from the closed lips of the unnaturally tall Slytherin. A vibration that held the imposing presence of the very mountains he had just mentioned, the sound rose and fell into a lull, repeating itself twice before Hagrid opened his mouth.

His voice rumbled low enough to reverberate in the breastbones of those next to him, and that halted any half-hearted attempt to divert the Slythering from his newly discovered singing talent: "A King he was on carven throne,"

Rubeus rose from his seat with barely any sway to his movements while he kept singing: "in many-pillared halls of stone."

With a clear parting nod towards his Head of House, he turned to leave, his voice growing louder as he appeared to barely hold back a peal of laughter.

"With golden roof and silver floor,"

He waved idly at the students flabbergasted by the unexpected change in his behavior and he left the room: "and runes of power upon the door!"

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