Chapter 6 – Possibilities abound

Harry was blissfully unaware of the actions of the healer. The next day she asked the hat to tell Harry he didn't need to worry. She also asked the hat to tell her, should the old man try to send Harry back. She may not have the old man's political sway, but she was an experienced and accredited healer, and she had some pull with people who could arrange the paperwork for her, should she decide to register Harry as a 'special needs patient', that required the presence of a healer. From there, she could simply have Harry live with her.

She had no doubt that it would actually be a good idea, considering the sorts of things Harry tended to get up to. As it was, she was already going to ask the boy to let her know where he ended up, so that she could come visit, regularly. Chances were, he could also help her figure out his system, while she started working on implementing a few experiments herself.

The first thing she was doing, was attempting to do as Harry did, and create a representation of her magic, and then a copy of her own image, in her head. She was already having issues, but fortunately she remembered Harry describing how he had done that. If she got stuck, she'd ask him for advice. The idea that she was learning from an eleven-year-old, hadn't even crossed her mind, because Harry was quite well-spoken for a boy, and he tended to give her the impression of calmness, which was both a good thing, and a bad thing, at the same time.

Boys his age should be laughing with friends, getting into trouble, trying to get away with breaking rules, get into pointless fights and being children, in general. His calm was a bonus, for him, because obviously keeping his logical mind focussed had allowed him to figure out some impressive things, but he really should have the opportunity to enjoy his youth, first.

She suspected, of course, where his attitude came from, but thinking of it gave her thoughts unbecoming of a healer. If those monsters died, she'd actually drink a toast to their deserved punishment. She may be a healer, but that didn't mean she wasn't a woman, and everyone knew the old saying about hell having no fury like a scorned woman.

III-III

Fortunately, things were reasonably calm for the next few months. Harry worked on a few projects, sometimes running into issues that he actually consulted with Madam Pomphrey for. He didn't always tell her why he was working on something, and sometimes he'd simply tell her that he was interested in what magic could actually affect.

Poppy had a few breakthroughs with the interface, too. For example, spells that gave you feedback in your head, with practice, could present that feedback on her interface. Copying what she saw on the interface, into an image, like Harry showed her, was very useful, too. She had folders with files, and information about different patients, too. Unfortunately, it took her a while to come up with the idea of using words, and names, rather than pictures, to represent her patients.

When she did, though, she was quite proud of herself. Now she had folders within folders, with files for any patient she saw, including the staff that occasionally needed a medical consultation.

The feedback function was also how she created her mental model of herself. It was much simpler than the way Harry had made his own, by imagining every step along the way, and having his magic figure out what he was trying to connect to.

His way did have several advantages, though. His moved like he did, while Poppy just had a stationary model, which wasn't connected to her actual body. His was also interactive, meaning when Harry wanted to apply something to his own body, he just had to do it to the model, because his magic already understood that it represented himself, in the real world.

Hers was able to show her the inner workings of her body, though, which was a good first step.

Harry's enhancement magic had also had two breakthroughs. First, he could harden any part of his body, focussing on bone-strength, the elasticity, strength and resilience of his joints, tendons and cartilage. Similarly, his skin and fatty tissue were able to resist much more pressure and shock. Unfortunately, it still took a lot of magic, to both enhance his strength and speed, and durability this way. Ten minutes at twice his normal strength, speed and durability, cost him nearly a quarter of his reserves, and the equation was an exponential one, depending on the increment.

He decided to add that function, and a volume control, rather than relying on knowing how much power he was using, and opening it up, for the amount of power he wanted to feed it, to his interface's default display, though. It was still an advantage, and he'd likely never need to enhance himself for too long. He just didn't want to accidentally use more than he was aware, and then either hurting someone, or use all of his magical reserves with one big stunt.

His current project was gravity control. Specifically, affecting his own weight. Unfortunately, he didn't know much more than what he'd learned in school. He knew the story of the apple falling on Newton's head, not that he knew if that was true, or just an example, but it was enough of a concept to start working on. Matter attracts matter. More matter attracted other matter more powerfully. Like magnets, basically, but more all-encompassing.

Harry ended up going to visit his seldom-seen owl, Hedwig, and sent her with instructions for the bookstore in Diagon, to get him some books about science. Physics, specifically. The owl came back with a note that the owner would do what they could, and send what they found along, in a few days. Fortunately, it seemed that Harry's name held some weight. Apparently, the owner usually didn't do things like going to the muggle world, to accommodate his clients, but he could easily send his son to do it, for him, which was the current plan of action.

Still, Harry played around with the idea a bit, until he remembered a very simple fact. He already knew how to levitate things. All he needed, was to ensure the spell didn't hit his brain, only. So, Harry started working on getting his magic to realise when he was sending a spell at the model, and not just the interface itself.

He even succeeded, but there seemed to be another problem with it. The tickling charms had hit the different parts of his body, depending on what he cast it on, in the interface, but casting a levitation charm on his body, gave him the feeling that the magic was doing something, but he didn't become lighter, at all.

'It's because the Wingardium Leviosa is intended to be cast at a remote object, with the caster as the origin, and the target then moves in relation to the caster.' the hat informed him.

Harry frowned. 'So, I am being affected by the spell, but because the spell is also rooted in me, I'm staying stationary, because it needs a point of origin, other than the target?' Harry asked.

'Basically.' the hat said. 'Think about it, do you think you're the first person to try and cast a levitation spell on themselves? Normally, they'd just point their wand at themselves, though. The interface, in this case, is completely unnecessary, for proof of concept.'

Harry's mouth opened, in shock. 'Are you telling me you knew all this, and just decided not to say anything?' he accused.

'Of course.' the hat said, a smug smirk in his voice. 'Despite this failure, you've still created something useful. If you ever got stabbed in the back, you're likely the only person that could look at their own wound, and properly heal it. It wasn't a waste of time. I just didn't want to break your motivation.'

Harry frowned. It was true, and frankly, he could see many situations that might benefit from having the interface, still. It was just a disappointment that he wouldn't get to skip the stairs from now on, which had been an idea that had popped up in his head, since the idea first came to him.

'It's a bad idea to skip one of the only forms of exercise you get, anyway.' the hat scoffed. 'And then there's the fact that you might end up needing to explain yourself.'

'Family magic.' Harry said. 'I can just say it's family magic, and people would have to drop it.'

'Only fools and lazy people don't think further than one simple excuse.' the hat said. 'You're still attracting attention to yourself. Either think of a better excuse or keep a secret advantage. That's my vote, anyway.'

'Stop being logical.' Harry whined. 'I can't win, when you use facts against me like that.'

'Blame yourself, Harry.' the hat said, smugly. 'I was very comfortable sleeping my year away, before you showed up and gave me options. You can't blame me, when I end up learning things like that.'

'Damnit, me.' Harry thought. He got a chuckle from the hat, for that one.

'On the bright side, you've not discounted every option.' the hat said. 'I'm sure there are multiple ways in the library to attempt what you want. Just go find something that specifically lowers something's weight, without needing to have a constant spell-effect active, which is bound to a caster.'

'Well, that, or I can work on using magic, tethered to my model on the interface, to have the opposite effect.' Harry said.

The hat followed his thoughts and sighed. The kid already had a work-around, and from the looks of it, it would likely work, too. 'On the bright side, fortunately you don't need to figure out casting on your model, anymore.'

'True.' Harry said, as he started working on an addition to the model. Half an hour later, Harry was floating above his bed, his entire body suspended and feeling weightless.

'It's got quite a low cost.' the hat noted, as he watched Harry's interface. Harry now had an actual indicator for magical use. It measured in percentage increments of percentage increments of his available power. Currently, it was taking 0.2% of his available magic, per six seconds of suspension.

'I'm small.' Harry lamented. 'Less weight, equals less power. The bed takes a lot more, as you'll recall, and I am stationary, too, not lifting. Maintaining my lift, rather than lifting up, is obviously less power-intensive.'

'Let me see if I understand this right.' the hat asked. 'You cast a levitation charm, on the bed, tethering the spell to your model, rather than yourself, and are currently focussing on moving the bed down, which is lifting you up?'

'Basically.' Harry said. 'Calling it a levitation charm is actually wrong though. That's just the original intended use, most likely. It's a remote movement charm. You can 'levitate' a book off a high shelf and lower it to you. Now, originally, I thought that that was just gravity, but that doesn't explain the lateral movements of the object, either, so obviously, you can manipulate an object in multiple directions. The conclusion there, is that we should actually call the spell, the remote movement, or telekinesis spell.'

'Very logical.' the hat said, nodding internally. 'So, the tether on your model, makes the entire model be the source, rather than just your wand-hand.'

'Exactly. That way the force is applied universally over my body, because I'm technically using magic from my wand, but also through my model.' Harry said. 'I've got a suspicion that this will be useful, somewhere down the line, and likely make learning wandless magic easier, if I can set it up right. Maybe, have my wand on me, but not actually casting a spell through it? No, that would still register the spell as having come from a wand.'

'You'd still be able to more freely use your magic, if you can use your targeting function, in conjunction with your model being an intermediary for your magic.' the hat said.

'Damn.' Harry swore.

'Language.' the hat joked. They sometimes swore in Harry's head, but it was just as a joke, when they did. That time had been deliberate, too, but Harry felt like he was truly upset, because the hat had pointed out something he didn't want to think about (that wandless magic might yet be beyond him) and that the hat had gotten to the obvious conclusion, before he could. 'Once again, I blame you.' the hat said. 'You can't be the only one that always has the bright ideas. I may not be a human, but I am an intelligence. If you did everything, what would be the point of our friendship?'

'Is friendship not enough?' Harry joked. He and the hat had joked about this a few times. Usually, it was the other way around, though, with the hat lamenting that Harry got to things before he could think of them. It wasn't stupid, after all.

'Who knows?' the hat gave Harry's usual response. They chuckled about that. 'Okay, Harry, it's past midnight, and you've got class tomorrow. I think it's time for you to knock off for the night.'

Harry sighed, before nodding. 'You're probably right.' he allowed. He was getting tired. 'Doesn't seem fair that you get to read for many more hours, before you go sleep, though.'

'I am considerably older than you, though.' the hat said. 'I've also slept quite a bit more than you, so I can afford a little less.'

'Lucky.' Harry responded, before he disconnected the hat, falling from his suspended position, and pulling the covers over him. Checking his interface a last time, Harry confirmed that there were no draws on his magic, that he didn't know about, and closed his eyes.

III-III

"How do tracking charms work?" Harry asked Madam Pomphrey, as he sat down for tea with her, during their weekly catch-up.

"You have a need?" the woman asked.

"I'm trying to integrate the functionality into another project of mine." Harry said.

The woman considered him, for a moment. "Why not just look it up?" she asked.

"Because apparently tracking people is considered a restricted skill." Harry said.

"Ah." the woman said, nodding. They must have put any real spells that could be used to invade people's privacy in the restricted section. "Well, considering you're asking me how they function, and not to teach you an actual spell, and taking into account who I'm speaking to and that you'll just figure it out, otherwise, I'll try and help you." she agreed. "However, I feel it is necessary for me to point out that tracking people, without their knowledge, or permission, is both illegal and an invasion of privacy."

"Noted." Harry said, nodding. "I intend to try and set up a new form of ward. The idea is to leave a barrier, that only tracks people's movements, once they pass a certain line, which, as I understand it, is how certain wards work, already. For obvious purposes, I can't set up wards, and I don't think I'll be invading any one person's privacy, if I simply want to track the motions of any person who crosses said line."

"And you can't tell me why you need this?" the woman asked, not thinking she'd get the answer.

"I've been building a map of the castle and want to see if I can integrate a way to track people inside the model." Harry said. "Of course, I'll stick to some random location for my test, so that I don't know who I'm tracking. Consider it a blind test. My initial tagging system only confirms people, when I can see them, which is less than ideal. A remote system is the only way to figure out if I'm projecting something, or if it's the system using magic to do the work."

Madam Pomphrey nodded at that. She'd seen what he was talking about, once, when he showed her the system that should distinguish if a person is a magical or muggle. He'd even mentioned the issue, then. She could understand why he wanted to identify magicals, or muggles, but didn't know why he'd want to be able to do so, at a distance. Now she realised the issue. He was worried that his own perception was the problem. He didn't know if the system actually did anything, or if he was just subconsciously marking people. He was trying to eliminate a possible flaw in the system.

"Well, considering the problem, it does make sense." she allowed. "You'd obviously not be allowed to cast detection spells at just any muggle, but if you had the interface up and capable of identifying things like that for you, you'd not be breaking any laws, and be able to identify things like possible threats, on a crowded street."

"Well, it was more just because of my curiosity." Harry admitted. "That, and it would be nice to know I can trust that feature, in case I ever wanted to add other information to those tags. Things like warnings, if I'm trying to avoid someone, before they come into view."

"Who are you trying to avoid?" she asked.

Harry just shrugged. The fact of the matter was, he'd wanted to use it to track Uncle Vernon, to know when the man was coming home. A small part of him still worried about being sent back to Privet Drive.

'It won't happen.' the hat said, in his head.

"Is the hat talking to you, right now?" Madam Pomphrey asked, narrowing her eyes. Harry didn't know that when the hat spoke to him, he tended to look to the hat's image, but she'd picked up on that. She'd tell him, at some point, so that he could avoid people seeing it and realising that something was going on.

Harry's eyebrows lifted, as he looked at her. "How did you know?" he asked.

"I'm a witch." she said, smiling. "I think you'll find, at some point, that women like to have their mysteries."

'I was just assuring him.' the hat's voice said, in her head. She still jumped when it just spoke to her. Usually, he only did that with Harry around. She didn't even open her connection to him. She was seriously considering asking Harry for that telephone-ring, function.

"Did the hat just talk to you?" Harry asked, smirking. He'd seen her jump. That had him making a few connections. "Wait, I do something, when it talks to me?" he asked.

'Told you he's quick.' the hat said in her head again.

She decided to connect the hat, and immediately said, 'You did that, just to spoil my fun, didn't you?'

'Oh, I see you intended to tell him.' the hat said. 'Sorry about that. I did realise he had a tell, but I didn't see anyone picking up on it, because I usually don't bother him, when he's talking to people that don't know.'

Deciding to get back on topic, but leaving the connection open, the healer continued. "So, tracking charms are, as you know, ways by which you can follow a person, using magic. There are limits in use. You can't track someone outside of a certain distance from you, for one thing. You can't expect to be able to even see movement, should a person be on another continent though, so that would be pointless, anyway.

"Then there's the fact that there are different kinds. A ward, like you mentioned, would be capable of applying something like that, and would be rather simple to overlook. There are magics to detect tracking magic, too, so when used on a person with enough skill and knowledge, you have to be very careful, or you have to use something they specifically don't know, so they can't protect from it, or remove it.

"Then there are cast tracking magics." she continued. "You cast a spell and hope the other person doesn't see you do it, or you hit them in the back, while they aren't looking. I've heard that some people put tracking charms on the soles of people's shoes, because it's something often overlooked."

"So, it's a ward, or directed sneaky, or smart application." Harry said, nodding.

"Well, those would be the basics." the healer said. "There's also picking up on tracking charms left by others or following a person's own magical impression."

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"Magical impression?" the woman asked, and Harry nodded. "Do you know what an aura is?" she asked.

"From what I heard, it's a sort of glow, or energy, that floats around people." Harry said. "Some people believe you can read another person's emotions from their aura."

"That's only partially incorrect." the healer said. "All living things have an influence on the magic around them, and usually there's a measurable impact. Thus, impression. Your magic isn't just inside you, after all. It's in you, around you, and in constant motion, going from one to the other. This is natural, and part of how magicals recover their magical power. When a magical is agitated, excited, or afraid, this flow becomes more aggressive, making a bigger impact. One could use certain magics to follow such an aura, into locations you can't see, which they obviously couldn't detect, because you're not casting spells on them, but yourself."

She stood up and pulled out her wand. "Let me show you." she said, as she waved her wand in a pattern, and then flicked it at her own chest. Slowly, something happened. A trace of colour started flowing out of her chest, and then up, over her head, and disappeared behind her. Another 'strand' of colour went down, and then, more and more of them started coming out, and flowing around the woman. Some simply flowed into a circle, around her, before being pulled into another current, which then changed direction and flowed back into her, from another angle. The colours were mostly green, with a bit of orange and yellow, mixed in.

"Unfortunately, the colours are all unique, and no studies have proven that they mean anything about mood, so that part is wrong." she said. "However…" she closed her eyes, and brought up the memory of her tirade at the headmaster. The strands of colour seemed to increase in brightness, expanding further from her, as her lips thinned, at remembering why she'd been there.

'When you are experiencing a strong emotion, your magic responds, and your aura becomes bigger.' The hat took over the narrative, while Poppy took a few breaths, to reign in her emotions.

"Exactly." the woman said, nodding, before sitting down, and the colours slowly fading.

"What was that spell?" Harry asked. To him, it had been beautiful.

"It's… not really a spell you can learn." Poppy said, apologetically. "I was once a student, learning the medical arts, and I wanted to know when patients are in real pain, or just looking for some potion that has a fun effect, after being tricked into doing just that. I don't like being lied to, so I started working on this, but it ended up being useless, because everyone can see it, and it takes too long to work, unlike some other aura-viewing spells, which don't show the colours."

"How did you create it?" Harry asked.

The woman sighed. "A bit of arithmancy, never really my strongest subject, along with the help of a friend, from back then. She did it because it sounded neat and she was just helpful that way, but I wanted something I could use to identify lies, with the flick of my wand. Unfortunately lying does nothing, unless it makes the person uncomfortable to do so."

Harry nodded, seeming to understand. "So, you and this friend invented this spell, which shows auras. Did you know auras existed, before that?"

"There are other spells, which allows you to see them, but the magic is cast on the caster, and it shows nothing more than a colourless impression." the woman said. "My own thought was that auras would change colour, if you could see them, and that would be a way to see, but as you saw, it didn't change colour, even though I made myself angry."

"How did you know that there were colours, and why would you cast the spell on the target, and not yourself?" Harry asked. "Why not make a spell that allowed you to see the colours of another person's aura, while they didn't see anything?"

"Like I said, I was never the best at arithmancy. I knew how to ensure I didn't hurt myself, but by the time you get to something like a specific function, you know, a spell, it becomes quite delicate work, and the wand motion would increase in length, with more specific functions." she explained. "You'll learn all about that after second year, if you decide to study arithmancy, in third.

"The thing is, a person could potentially make any spell, if you could get the words or the wand-motions perfect. Sometimes both. To make that spell capable of being applied to me, and then see other people's magical influence, would have made the spell take minutes, just to cast, no matter if the cost is low. Making one mistake in the casting, could lead to things that normally end up sending people to Saint Mungo's." she finished.

"So, arithmancy is a magical study into the formation of spells, using wand motions and certain words?" Harry asked.

"It's a sort of magical mathematics." Poppy said. "Where formulae are used to shape the magic, to get a certain result."

"So, spell-crafting?" Harry asked, as an idea lit up in his head.

'Oh, hell.' the hat said, in both their heads.

"Language." the healer said.

'Harry, I see where that idea is going, and I won't betray your trust, but I really think you should inform Poppy about what you are thinking, and probably what you've already achieved.' the hat suggested.

"Hey!" Harry objected. "That was meant to be my secret!"

'I didn't tell her, but Harry, I cannot stress enough how much you need someone to assist you with this.' the hat said. 'I think you're right, really. It's a fantastic idea, even, and could probably make you the most versatile wizard in recorded history, besides maybe Merlin, himself, but you have no idea how dangerous it can be. People in that field have disappeared, without a trace, when they tried things beyond their capability to control, or understand.'

"What's going on?" she asked, worriedly. "You're not thinking of messing with Arithmancy, are you? I know you're very sharp, Harry, but untrained, you could hurt more than just yourself. Random side-effects of untested spells and reckless actions have killed hundreds of innocents in the past. One badly created or cast spell could destroy the Gryffindor common room, and anyone in it, including the caster."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm counting this as you interfering." he said, looking at the hat's image.

'I count it as ensuring you stay safe.' the hat countered, unashamedly.

Harry sighed, then, before he took out his wand. "I'm going to cast one spell at you, Madam Pomphrey. A tickling charm. I want you to see if you can block it."

"A tickling charm?" the woman asked, wondering what this had to do with what they had been discussing. "All I have to do is block? Is it overpowered, or, did you already modify it, or something?"

"No." Harry said, calmly. "Standard spell, standard speed, standard power."

'Oh, but he will be casting more than one in succession.' the hat warned.

"You didn't need to tell her that." Harry said. "I didn't tell her I was going to cast it once."

'Better to try and not be tricky, just now, Harry.' the hat said. 'This is a demonstration. She needs to understand the possibilities of this.'

"Why am I worried?" the woman asked, even as she stood up and held her wand up, ready to cast a counter.

Harry simply pointed his wand at her, and mentally accessed his spell-system, before activating the tickling charm five times, as quickly as he could. Considering the speed of his mental processes, it was damn near milliseconds apart. The system did have what Harry considered a delay, though, because it still needed to rewind, in a manner of speaking.

Suffice it to say, Poppy had successfully countered the spell, but she hadn't noticed the other four, because they were so close together. She just thought she'd failed in blocking it. Then she started laughing as the spell did what it was meant to, tickling her. "Stop it." she got out.

Harry cancelled the effect, by putting his wand away. The moment he let go, the spell ended.

Poppy still needed to take a moment to compose herself, before she sat down, as well. "So, you can cancel a counter, and cast without the normal wand motion or words?" she asked.

"No." Harry said. "I cast the spell normally. The interface just said the words for me and did the wand motions." he explained. Poppy's eyes widened. Harry smirked. "Five times, in under a tenth of a second."

Poppy's mouth fell open. She had not expected that one. Not at all. How would the interface even do that? She just sat there, shocked, while Harry quickly did something on his interface, while communicating with the Hat. The next second, Poppy's head felt strange, as the Hat took Harry's design for the tickling charm, along with the system, and taught it to her, as had been Harry's request.

Suddenly, her interface had a new image. It was a very familiar wand image. "That's what that was?" she asked, shocked. "How many spells have you programmed?"

"All of first year, one fifth-year, and most of second year." Harry said. "It still takes power, though, and I've not used them all, but I have programmed them in, so that they can easily be pulled up and used."

Poppy looked at the wand, and excitedly opened the representation. To her regret, it only had the one spell. Opening that, showed her the still image of the wand, before motion.

'The triangle starts the program.' the hat said. 'Point your wand at a wall, and activate the program.'

Poppy complied, and watched as the motion was performed, while she heard Harry's voice, in fast-forward, as the spell was performed perfectly. And then, a spell left her wand.

"This is impossible." she said. "You can't just shape magic with a thought. You'd need…"

"A system." Harry said. "Following a process, which your magic can understand. As I understand it, when you get used to spells, they become easier. I've seen people cast spells wordlessly, and without the correct wand motion. They've trained themselves to know that magic, intimately. This, just bypasses having to cast a spell thousands of times, until you can do that. I suspect that if we studied this, we'd find that it's the same thing, just simplified, so that a first year, like myself, can even do it."

"Well… yes, that is true, but only the most powerful magicals can do that." she said. "I can only barely do that for a few spells."

'And now, you can start making your own collection.' the hat said. 'That's not the point, here. Put the wand down, and watch the program again.'

The hat needed to inform her about rewinding, too, and she watched it again, putting all her focus on it. This time, because she wanted to see everything, it looked like it was normal speed, and she saw the strange blocky stick-figure hand, performing the motion, and heard the words properly.

Then, she considered what they had been discussing. It didn't take her long. "Wait, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" she asked.

'You are.' the hat said.

"So, you're worried about the intricacy of a spell, and the difficulty of a long wand-motion?" Harry asked. "Or a long incantation?"

"We can make any spell, with this." she whispered. "We could cure diseases that could never be attempted before or create spells that directly targets certain conditions or disorders!" she exclaimed, having gotten louder as she went. "Harry! Do you have any idea what this means!?"

"Well, yes." Harry said, calmly, as he smiled at the woman. "I kind of just gave it to you, for a purpose, you know?"

"We're going to change the world!" the woman exclaimed as she jumped up, stepped to the boy and pulled him into a hug, lifting him up, as she did so, and pressing him to her.

Harry was blushing. He didn't know why. He was smiling, though. The woman had never been so demonstrative. "Um… sure." he said. She didn't let go, though. She just continued to hug him.

"You don't know what this means to me, Harry." she said. "I've never been the most powerful witch. I have my limits. You just gave me a way to exceed my limits, in a way I never dreamed I could."

"You're welcome." Harry said, as he finally put the one arm he could move, around her. "I'm glad you're happy." he added, as he patted her back, lamely.

She needed a few more moments, before she put him down again, and then, she smiled at him, shamelessly, as tears ran down her face. "Harry, you are a wonder, and a marvel, and I have never been prouder of you, than I am at this very moment."

Harry's smile slipped a bit, as he looked away. She was being a bit much for him, and he didn't know how to respond to that.

She seemed to realise that she was making him uncomfortable, so she sniffed and wiped her eyes, before going to take her seat again. She was still smiling at him, though. "Fine. I'll get you to open up, some other time. For now, let's discuss what you were planning on doing with the ability to potentially one-day outshine Merlin, himself."

"Well, that's a decent goal, I suppose." Harry said, smiling a bit more, but with a hint of mischief.

"What's the plan?" she repeated.

"Well, you already did the work." Harry said. "I want to know that spell. The one for the auras. Then, I need to understand every part of it, how the wand-motions and words affect the magic, and then I want you to teach me what you can of arithmancy, so that I can start creating a new program, and start figuring out how to automate spell-creation."

The woman's eyes widened again but her smile only grew. "I forgot about that! Do you think I could do that?" she asked, finally losing her smile and frowning. She didn't think she was as smart as the boy, and Arithmancy was very difficult. He might be able to take it further than her, faster than her, even if she continued where she left off, and he started now.

"I don't see why not." Harry said. "We can even work together and keep each-other safe. I wouldn't want to trust an automatically put-together spell, if I could potentially die, or kill someone. We'll likely need to check things manually, or something. I don't know procedure, when it comes to things like this. You're the expert, in this case."

Poppy nodded, as she thought about it. The boy definitely had the mind for it. With his system, he could likely learn this principle in a few weeks, but using it was a different thing. She'd need time to consider it. Maybe put a spell together herself, test this program, and figure out how it works, and then maybe finish her original spell. That would be a good test, she thought.

'That is a good idea.' the hat said. Once again, she jumped. Sometimes she forgot he was there.

"What?" Harry asked, smiling again at her jump.

"I think we're rushing a bit." Poppy said. "I need to understand this better, and you're right, we need a proper test, and a proper test environment. It would likely be a good idea to start learning the principles, and then maybe deconstruct existing spells, so that you have a firm grasp of how completed spells would work. While you do that, I'll see if I can apply what I can remember from my days studying arithmancy, and put it in my interface, so that I can start seeing if we can speed things up. If this works, I'll be able to finish my spell, and then, maybe, I'll teach it to you, as well."

Harry sighed, but nodded, again. "I trust you." he said. "But I will start learning Arithmancy so long. I want to start working on putting something together as well. I'm excited about the possibilities of this."

"No creating spells." the woman said, firmly. "At least, not yet, okay?"

"I'm not an idiot." Harry said. "Plus, the hat will be watching, so you can always just ask him if I'm acting like an idiot."

"I won't be checking up on you, because I trust you, too." Poppy said. "But you are just a boy, with, maybe, just a few too many ideas. It worries me. I don't know the limits that you will reach, with that mind of yours, and your stupidly impressive ability to adapt."

"I'm not stupid." Harry said, giving her a mock frown.

"Oh?" she asked. "So, you suddenly stopped asking after tracking magic, because you don't have an idea?" she challenged.

'She caught you.' the hat said, in his head.

'Shut up.' Harry said back.

"And the hat obviously knows that you have a plan, too, otherwise he'd have let us both hear whatever he just said." the woman stated.

"I do have an idea." Harry said. "I just sometimes like figuring it out myself."

'His need to discover things, did lead to the spell-system.' the hat offered.

"An advancement that I will not ever look down on." Poppy agreed. "That doesn't change the fact that he's already proven that it can be abused, even if I don't think he would. I am bound by my oath, and the grant, but Harry could, potentially, do whatever he wants, as long as he can figure it out. That's not just an advantage, but a danger. If he ever slips up, and people find out, he'd have the whole magical world after him."

"My only option, then, would be to simply take over." Harry said, like it was a simple concept, and something he'd considered, before.

'Don't scare her, Harry.' the hat said, in both their heads. 'You know I know you never planned for that. You're playing with fire, now. She's right to be worried. Your discovery will one day lead to unimaginable things. We're just hoping for good. Even if someone can't use your magic without your permission, there is such a thing as enslavement rituals, or non-standard mind-control. Things like love potions and will suppressants, which would turn even you into a tool, for anyone to use as they please, or they could order you to give them the secrets of your magic.'

"Harry, I don't care what you invent." Poppy said. "As long as you don't hurt people, I don't care if you decide to live in the muggle world. What I will not allow, is for you to go down the path that so many before you have gone down. Hubris, is what it's called. When you see yourself as unbeatable. Unkillable, and the most powerful person there is. That leads down one of two roads. Control and manipulate, like a certain headmaster we know, or the path of a dark lord."

'Not all dark lords were evil, you know?' the hat said. 'Someone sees an injustice, and stands up, for what they believe in. That's what Grindelwald did. That's what Voldemort did. Voldemort was more of a monster, leading through fear and power. Grindelwald used charisma and he spread a message of working for the greater good. The message isn't wrong. It's the application. What you do with your power.'

"I don't want anything, though." Harry said. "I'd rather just find out how to do things and have fun."

"For now, maybe." Poppy said. "You are not yet a man. You will find that your priorities change, and when you want something, and you meet resistance, do you let others dictate to you, do you ignore them, or do you fight back?"

"Well, I suspect I'll just ignore them and hide what I'm doing, I suppose." Harry said. "I know the concept of being influenced. How prejudices and perceptions carry over. I don't even mind if people are wrong. They will one day find out that they are wrong. As long as people don't tell me I'm not allowed to think, to learn, I think I'll be okay. Live and let live, and all that.

"However, if someone tries to take my freedom, ever again, I suspect I'll be quoting someone like Shakespeare, 'cry havoc', while I do my best to stand up for myself. I think I have that right." Harry said, a stern look on his face.

'I think he's on the right track, Poppy.' the hat said. 'He's serious. He believes what he said. All we can do is support him and ensure that nobody ever knows what he can do, until there is no other choice.' he said, in her head. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell her about the prophecy. He knew Harry was destined to be on the right side of that conflict. Anything that they helped him achieve, would just be another tool he can use against the dark lord.

'For now, I think we've covered what we wanted to talk about.' the hat said in both their heads. 'Poppy, I believe you have a couple of questions about your interface?' he asked.

From there, they turned to calmer subjects, and the woman's fears calmed down a bit. She wasn't ready to tell them how much she'd started caring for the boy, but she knew the hat likely knew. Fortunately, he didn't bring it up, and she knew it couldn't tell Harry.

III-III

It was near the end of the year, and Quirrell was getting frantic. He needed to move. The unicorns had been corralled by the centaurs, and Hagrid patrolled the woods, after finding the last unicorn whose blood he'd drunk, to support his master. If he'd known that he'd become a husk of a man, rotting from the inside, to help the master, he may not have done it, but it was too late now.

That's when he got some welcome news. Dumbledore was leaving the school for the night, to go do something at the ministry. Something to do with the blood-traitor Sirius Black. He knew Sirius had never been a Death Eater. All the Death Eaters did. None of them would speak up for the man, though, obviously.

He'd gotten what information he needed from the Half-Giant oaf, and he knew some of the protections. Hopefully, with the headmaster gone, he could get to the stone, and be gone, before he returned. With the elixir of life, he could restore his master, and himself, and stand at his right hand, the man that restored the Dark Lord to power, as he finished his great work, and subjugated the magical world, and then the muggle one.