Protections

"Why is she here?" Professor Babbling asks, shocked by my presence, as Dumbledore and I round the corner into the right-hand side of the third-floor corridor. I try to wave down a yawn, only to remember the cloth mask covering my face. My ability to easily wake up was diluted this morning by the chill that permeates the castle from last night's snowfall. Well, it's that and my late-night potion research.

"Yes, I'd quite like to know as well," Professor Flitwick chimes in, staring only slightly up to me. Bits of concern broke through his stern and scholarly mask.

"She discerned the nature of the item hiding here," Dumbledore responds swiftly as their presence doesn't act to slow him down. The two professors glance at me, eyes wide, as they join our march; Professor Babbling falls to my side as Dumbledore and Flitwick lead the way to a locked room. Well, I got most of it and bluffed my way into knowing the specifics, but I'm not going to correct him.

"T-that still doesn't answer the question," Professor Babbling stutters slightly, still slightly afraid to question her boss.

"Because she found out, I thought it would be useful for us to have her use her unique talents to look over our defenses," Dumbledore explains, flipping through a keychain that was once hidden in his white and purple robe. Finally finding the right key, the lock releases with a click.

Closing my eyes, I connect myself to the Mana around me. Look over huh? Let's try that. Rather than leaving it like that, I focus the Mana within my soul into a different place, my eyes.

Opening my eyes, they're greeted by a new world layered over our own. Unlike that time in the hospital wing, the colors of Mana aren't mixed with my vain vision. The personal Mana of the professors seemed to wrap around them, flowing in the abstract ways I've sensed before.

The Cool flowing blue of Dumbledore's Mana seems a lot more condensed than before. Did he figure out a way to concentrate his Mana signature or limit the amount of Mana leaking out of him?

Professor Flitwick's dark mint green Mana seemed to cling to him like a second skin, very in sync with his movements. That's not to say his Mana is less or inferior to Dumbledores. It is but that's not what I'm saying. I'd argue that his control over his Mana is a lot more refined than Dumbledores.

Then we have Professor Babbling. Like Flitwick, McGonagall, and Potter's; her Mana isn't made internally of her own. White tendrils of Mana seep out of the runes tattooed on her skin. The amount of Mana is so small but there are enough tattoos to fade her blue Mana, lightening it some.

Looking around, another Mana signature distracts me. In front of us a massive, three-headed, bulldog towers over us even as it lays culled up. If I wasn't distracted by the Professors' Mana then its slobbery snores would have caused me to notice it immediately. Its Mana signature completely dwarfed anything else. Even if you combined our Mana you would not stand a chance against its deep, deep, Mana.

The Mana fades from my vision as Professor Flitwick pulls a flute out of his robe. Setting it down, he points his wand at it. With a flick of his wand, a soft musical melody joins the chill in the air as it begins to lift off the ground and play itself.

"That should keep him out while we look around," Professor Flitwick states confidently. All eyes turn to me as the dog's presence causes the purpose of our journey down here to fly out of my mind.

'Sorry,' I write, cheeks flushed as I remember. Moving to the center of the room, I lower myself to a kneel. Slowly relaxing every muscle of my body, I link myself to the surrounding Mana to let my conscience wander to examine the surroundings.

A plethora of barriers expands around the interconnected rooms. Each one is made using the Mana of Hogwarts. They seem to be interconnected, but not deeply. It looks as though each barrier is its own entity but can share Mana. Why would that be?

Wait, a tiered interconnect barrier method that strengthens each part of it and separates it so that sections of it can fall but not compromise the whole? Of course! Such a powerful and intricate method that's also Mana efficient. It's a solid barrier made using the Mana of Hogwarts so it doesn't stand out, but it's very weak and basic.

Aside from its interconnection, nothing about it would really stand out to the laymen. Why would Dumbledore want me to examine such a barrier as this? Unless? Looking deeper into the stitching of the barrier, a small thread of it branches out to a modified Anti-Intruder Charm. On top of that, most of the sections seem to have self-district functions tied to items or actions inside the rooms.

I think I've found everything. Rising from the ground, I open my eyes to see professors waiting patiently. Glancing over at Flitwick, I take a second to think about how to talk to them, *To speed things up. I'll sign while one of you translates for Professor Flitwick.*

"What were your general thoughts or ideas about the nature of the defenses?" Dumbledore asks.

*It's a group of interconnecting barriers set to fall if something happens in the room they're set to protect. I don't know why they're interconnected or what the self-destruct items are. I did find the modified Anti-intruder spell that's secretly connected to the barriers.*

"How did you find it?" Babbling asks, after translating everything to Flitwick.

*Because I was looking for it. I figured that there was something hidden with the barriers or else Dumbledore wouldn't have wanted me to look,* Worry slid over their faces at my words.

"Do you think an intruder or someone who can't sense Mana could find it?" Flitwick asks, all thoughts of my age and lack of experience forgotten.

I take a moment to ponder, *Possibly. If you interweave the modified Anti-Intruder Charm into the barrier it might hide it better and increasing the strength of the actual barrier might lessen the suspicion of it being there.*

"Would that work?" Dumbledore asks Flitwick, face as flat as a general.

"I would need to do some tinkering, but in theory, yes."

*I have a question.*

"Yes?" Professor Babbling asks, confused by my verbal hand raise.

*How does that three-headed dog have so much Mana?*

"Most magical creatures have higher levels of Mana than wizards. That and Three-headed Dogs are a very powerful magic creature."

*Interesting.*