Chapter 4

As Hadrian made his way down the Great Hall he noticed how excited the Gryffindors seemed to be. He sat down on the Ravenclaw table and asked Michael Connor about it.

"Didn't you hear? Charles Potter got into the quidditch team. His father helped him and Wood needed a seeker. I even heard him say that he was going to get a nimbus 2000." Connor said rapidly.

As Harry went back to his food he heard Luna say, "You should give it a try. You fly as a bird after all."

Harry narrowed his eyes, "How do you know about that?"

"Don't worry, I know how to keep a secret and I have to say, raven suits you perfectly." She said blushing slightly under his gaze.

Shaking his head they left toward Transfiguration class. He sat down in the third row and waited for other students to arrive. They had moved on from matchsticks to colored needles. As Harry was practicing he heard the Professor say to another student, "There is nothing wrong with your wand. Imagine what you want and push it through the wand. Get the wand movements right then it will work just fine. The reason we can do the spells with just a jab is because of practice. We have practiced it many times such that the spells are easy to use as it is familiar to our magic. That is also why we start silent casting in sixth year. By then you have practiced certain spells enough times that you can cast without needing to cast loudly."

Hearing her explanation Harry's head started to spin. He quickly noted down his idea as the professor continued her class. As Harry made his way out he saw Charles bump into the bushy haired girl. Ron was about to say but when Charles stopped him, "It's alright don't disturb the bookworm. I bet she has to go to her beaver hole so let her. Though she doesn't seem very smart if she still does not have a friend."

It seemed to be too much for her as she rushed away with tears. The Gryffindors seemed to find it funny as they all seemed to laugh loudly as she ran away. Shaking his head he turned to Luna, "Can you go check on her. Even though she seemed rude nobody deserved what Charles did to her."

Luna nodded and left in the direction Hermione had left.

Harry made his way towards library and started searching for books on wands. After spending a good amount of time he found only a few books based on them.

"Hi Harry, It's time to go to the great hall for dinner." Luna said while looking at the book he was holding. "Why are you searching for wands?"

Harry replied, "After hearing Professor McGonagall's explanation I got an idea and I just wanted to make sure whether it is possible. It says that a wand makes it easier and allows us to easily manipulate the world using our magic and intent. The wands were easy to use and every wizard or witch can use one. But in the older times only a few of them could use staffs. This was because staffs were made using a much bigger piece of wood or bone and used a bigger core. Due to this more amount of magic easily flowed through it. This was an advantage for stronger wizards but for weaker ones they tend to use up too much magic for easy spells. But what if we have a foci that help us precisely control our output? We could make something with the power of a staff but with some kind of limiter so that we do not use up all our magic for a few spells. I have few more ways of making it better but I don't know the wand's or staff's composition. And any change I want to make would have to wait since I need a good knowledge of runes to make it possible."

Luna blinked at my explanation and tilted her head, "Alright, good luck. Are we going to the feast now?"

"I don't like Halloween. Something bad always seem to happen today." Harry said, "But alright, it's just a feast."

/\/\/\/\/\

"A troll in the dungeon!" Quirrell yelled and fell unconscious.

Everyone went into a panic but stopped as Dumbledore sent out a bang through his wand, "Students sit back in your seats, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid stay here. All professors search the castle starting from the dungeons."

As everyone sat back down he heard Anthony Goldstein say, "You know my friend Charles Potter said that his uncle caught a vampire all by himself. It was apparently fighting with a weak muggle in Nottingham. I heard he took down the vampire using only his dog form."

Harry's blood ran cold. He quickly removed the necklace he was wearing but the dim light in it meant it was not working. He wanted to send a letter using his augurey but he could not go out of the great hall. But he knew he won't rest, not until he made sure that his brother was safe.

Dear Harry,

Thank you for worrying. Nothing happened here so what you heard must be a rumor. Things are alright over here but I do want to know what is happening at Hogwarts. That place is magical (no pun intended) and I had some of the best moments of my life over there. I do hope that you are making friends.

Write a letter soon. I am getting bored here.

Victor Hofstader

P.S. I still hate your bird. At least send one of the school owls.

Harry sighed in relief. He was worried that things had gone wrong just when he left Victor alone and left for Hogwarts. He placed the letter in the trunk and left for the common room.

"You look better." Luna said.

Harry asked, "What do you mean?"

"You looked pretty grumpy and restless for the past two days. You got angry for the smallest of things." Luna replied.

"I'm sorry. I got a bit of bad news from home but its resolved now."

"Its fine. I thought that you did not want to be my friend like others."

"Don't worry Luna, I will always be your friend." Harry promised.

Luna sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. If she had placed it just a bit farther on his chest, she could have heard his heart beating so fast that it seemed as if it would come out. They sat there for some time before Luna left hurriedly saying she had some work. Harry watched as she climbed up the girl's dormitory and disappeared from view.

He went back to the notes he had written in the library a few days back. He needed more information from places other than Britain. There were other types of foci used at different places in different times. Even now apart from wands different countries were using different foci. Americans focused more on various kinds of rituals or using raw materials directly. They had developed rituals for everything without the need to use many rituals. Europe mainly focused on wands though there were some who rarely used staves. In Asia they used mainly metal works or precious stones in making rings, bracelets and the type. In Africa they mainly embedded their foci material and magic into clothes.

Unlike Europe which focused only wands other places used a wider variety which can be useful for his idea.

Harry spent the rest of the evening on his idea. He noticed Hermione staring at him several times in the library but dismissed it and went back to his work.

"What are you working on?" Hermione asked as she approached him.

"Just an idea I had. It's just that advanced runes feel like a bunch of runes connected in some random order." Harry replied frustratingly.

"It looks like some sort of computer code." Hermione frowned.

Harry looked closely at the runes. Each runes had a meaning and they seemed to be connected to some specific runes to give it a meaning. Then these lines were interconnected to each other. It all made perfect sense. If he had a bit more knowledge about programming then he might be able to do something. Harry quickly picked up the letter he was about to send to Victor and scribbled at the bottom.

Dear Victor

Everything is fine here. I have made a friend so stop nagging. The only hitch that occurred in Hogwarts was a troll on the loose roaming the halls.

I need you to send me any books you can find about various foci around the world. It would help me greatly.

Yours

Hadrian Hofstader

P.S. Also send some books about computer programming.

"Thanks a lot for that Hermione." Harry said sincerely.

"You're welcome." She went back to her book with a smile on her face.

Harry went back to his design and added some more modifications. It was far from complete but he was now sure that with a bit of effort he would be able to complete it.