Midnight Mayhem

Living Room, Godric's Hollow, June 5 th

This was it. Only two more spells and his receptacle would be finished. Harry meticulously began the next intricate wand movement, tapping his wand to the quill every so often, causing magical sparks to shoot off of the pulsating object. The amount of magic coming off the quill was palpable, and Harry felt oddly comforted being around so much of his own magic. After a perfect clockwise twirl, Harry pointed his wand at the quill and said, "Liy–"

"LILY, JAMES! ARE YOU THERE?"

"No," Harry practically screamed as his focus was distracted by Professor McGonagall's loud Scottish brogue coming from the floo. Frantically, Harry tried to salvage what work he had done, and he began trying to cancel the last spell.

This was why creating a receptacle was so difficult. If you messed up, even one step, it began a cascading reaction, which canceled out every spell on the object unless you could somehow undo the last spell you cast. Unfortunately, the further you are in finishing a receptacle, the faster the spells are undone, and they gain speed with each spell that is removed. Harry watched as spell after spell left the quill, accompanied by a bright flash of magic. The reactions eventually began unwinding so fast that the quill looked to be permanently glowing. A moment later, it erupted in flames as the collapsing magical reaction became too much for the object to handle.

Groaning in frustration, Harry stood up and walked over the floo. "Hello, Professor," he said somewhat coldly. Honestly, who would call at half-past midnight? The only reason he was still up was because he wanted to finish his project.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked in surprise before recovering her composure. "Harry, I need you to get your parents immediately. A situation has arisen with your brother at Hogwarts."

"Is Nathan alright?" Harry asked, his anger at being interrupted vanishing.

"He's in the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey is doing everything that she can at the moment. Please, Harry, I need to speak with your parents," McGonagall said in a deadly serious tone that allowed no arguments.

Harry quickly stood up and ran to his parents bedroom. After banging on the door for about a minute, his father came out looking less than pleased. "Harry, what in Merlin's name is it? It's past midnight!"

"Dad, Professor McGonagall is on the floo, she says something happened to Nathan at Hogwarts," Harry said worriedly.

James' face paled. He closed the door, and Harry could hear muffled voices coming from inside his parents' bedroom. Soon enough, his mother and father opened the door, both of them looked decidedly worried.

"Minerva's on the floo?" Lily asked, already heading down the stairs.

"Yes," Harry said.

Lily raced into the living room, giving only the slightest glance at the burnt spot on their mahogany table, before kneeling down, and sticking her head in the floo. After a few minutes, she took her head out and said, "Harry go to bed. Your father and I need to go to Hogwarts."

"What!" exclaimed Harry. "I want to make sure Nathan is alright."

"No!" Lily snapped. "Go to bed, and I'll ignore what you were doing down here tonight," she said, gesturing to the nasty looking black scorch mark on the table.

"But what about Nath–"

"Harry, go to bed. We'll tell you about it tomorrow," James said seriously.

"But–"

"Now!" Lily and James demanded.

"Fine," Harry said unhappily.

He had made it halfway up the stairs when he heard the sound of the floo activating twice, signaling that his parents had left for Hogwarts. It was going to be a long night, and there was no way he would be able to sleep wondering what happened to his brother. Sighing, Harry entered his room and took out another quill. If he wasn't going to be able to sleep, he might as well try to make a receptacle again, at least that might be able to take his mind off his brother for a little while.