Discussions And Experiments

Here is the discord server if you want to discuss the novel The link is in the comment.

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"Mate that was the best prank I have ever seen, just wait until I tell Fred and George they will be so jealous that they didn't think of it first, how did you even pull that off"

"Oh people underestimate the usefulness of a quick Confundus charm cast at the right time, as for the potion he should really be more considerate of what he puts in his body"

"Wait you cast a spell ?? In Snape's class of all people, how the hell did you not get caught?"

"And what was that potion?" Harry added

"I have to keep some tricks for myself, Ron, as for the potion that was a Babbling Beverage, a nice little potion that I read about that happens to also be red like a cure for boils potion"

"But how did you get him to drink it"

Liam flashed a wide smile and said

"will you wouldn't believe it, I was simply making my way to class, enjoying a peaceful walk when I was accosted by a certain annoying Slytherin that insisted on stealing my property, he had from somewhere gotten the notion that it was a cure for boils and I simply didn't dissuade him of thinking that it was"

"Oh really, he had from somewhere gotten the notion, did he now ?"

Hermione had been keeping silent this far in the conversation and had chosen now to interject with her remark while giving Liam an accusatory stare.

"what? I didn't say that he didn't get that notion from me"

"Hermione come on you can't possibly think that Malfoy doesn't deserve it, think of all the things that he said and done since we started school, he is a bully" Ron exclaimed

"He is right Hermione Draco deserved it"

"Just because he deserves it doesn't mean that you have the right to go around doling out punishment, just cause someone else is doing something wrong does not justify you doing wrong yourself in response to that, Image if someone had done that exact same thing to Neville would that be fair"

"Malfoy is not Neville, Neville doesn't go around bullying people" Ron rebutted

"But what if someone felt like Neville was bullying them, whether it's true or not, what if they believed it, does that justify it"

"Are you saying Malfoy doesn't bully us, Why are you defending him?"

Hermione went on without answering Ron

"And what if that someone thinks that Neville's entire existence is a spit in the face of everything they believe in should they be allowed to do what they want, or would that make them death eaters"

"... WE ARE NOT DEATH EATERS"

"I am just saying that what you are saying is a slippery slope that leads to people who think like that to feel justified in what they think, I am not saying that Draco isn't a bully or that he doesn't deserve punishment, but the punishment should first of all be something that fixes the crime and secondly a deterrent to make it happen less, and it should be administered by a someone neutral and fair that enforces rules that everyone agrees on, punishment shouldn't be just for the sake of punishment or else it will only lead to resentment and escalation in the long run until something happens that can't be fixed "

"So you think we should go crying to the teachers and say we are being bullied and that will fix everything if we become tattletales"

"I am not naive to think that something like that would work here Ron, I don't have a magical solution but I just know that your way is not the right way"

Liam after watching them argue for a while jumped in and said

"Sure Hermione in an ideal world in a magical school like this, you would think they would have some spells that can make sure nobody abuses their magic, it wouldn't even be that hard to use already existing spells to do that if they were modified a bit wouldn't you say ?"

"What are you getting at ?"

"I am saying there is a spell that can identify the last spell that your wand cast, and you can make charms that can nullify certain spells like an apparition in Hogwarts, don't you think that instead of saying that we can't cast magic in the halls they can just make it impossible for us to do so, Is it a lot of work, sure but it's not that hard to do, and when the price is the safety of all students isn't worth it?"

"I am sure there is a valid reason why they don't do that Liam"

"There might just be a reason like you think Hermione but personally I think that reason is different, I think that the magical society consciously or unconsciously doesn't want to set a precedent, they don't want their freedom to use certain magic to be regulated, they don't want their powers diminished, therefore how can they teach their children to not do something they actively do all the time"

"What does this even have to do with what you did to Draco?"

"It speaks to the way things are Hermione, what you said is true, but right now that impartial and neutral judge is nowhere around and I am in the hallway and Draco is stealing my potion, what am I supposed to do, what led to the least amount of damage all around and also served as a deterrent as you said was to do what I did, Something that will make him think again before trying to mess with someone, I merely sent a message, that if you mess with a lion you get bit and that lions can sometimes look like cats"

"Oh and you are the lion in that analogy? rabid dogs bite people too you know"

"Ha, that is true, but my point is if the current system doesn't look out for you, you have to stand up for yourself"

"Really and it wasn't like you planned this whole thing beforehand, and were only there so Malfoy can steal the potion, you could have just come to class earlier"

"That is beside the point, I didn't goad him into trying to Bully me, and I didn't force his hand, just because I planned for his actions and could have avoided them doesn't mean that it's my responsibility to do so, If he had not taken the potion I would have done nothing, but every step of the way he acted like I thought he would, now does that justify what I did, you can decide for yourself but in the end, I have to do what I think is right to do"

"You keep saying that but y....."

"OHHH, come on, you too have somehow turned a funny prank into a very boring conversation, you just keep going on and on about nothing, well have fun I am out of here"

Ron said before getting up and walking away leaving Harry who was observing the conversation in silence now with the other two who had kept quiet after Ron left waiting for the other person to speak, leading to a hanging awkward stillness that Harry choose to break

"Look guys this is getting a bit heated, It wasn't even Liam's idea to prank Malfoy, Hermione, and it's not like he took that far, in the end, he just lost 5 house points, if the same thing had happened to a Gryffindor you know it would have been north of 50 points, so how about we just let it go and talk about something else"

Hermione didn't seem to accept Harry's idea but kept her silence staring at Liam as if not willing to be the one to get up and storm off this time

Liam instead gracefully stood up and before walking away said

"I don't hate Draco, I think he is just a product of how he grew up, and I think there is still time for him to change, he is still a kid after all, but I don't think kids learn good lessons when you let them get carried away in their indulgent behavior, clear lines need to be drawn"

Harry looked amazed at what Liam just said while Hermione was irritated and stood up saying to the walking away Liam

"You are a kid too you know !!"

she sat down again clearly annoyed and not knowing if she won that verbal sparring match or not making the atmosphere even more awkward which led to Harry trying to break the tension by saying

"umm... do you want to play some Exploding Snap Hermione"

"Sorry harry I don't really feel like it, I am going to look for a nice book to read, see you later"

and with that, she got up and left harry alone sitting at the library table they were using, and when he got up to leave he noticed madam Pince chiding Ron by the entrance for yelling earlier so he jogged up to him.

Meanwhile, Liam was on his way to the room of requirements, he was making good progress on the spell he needed, and was sure he was going to make it work any day now, it was a very big part of what he wanted to accomplish, if he couldn't pull it off in time he would have to reconsider a lot of moving parts, and his head was already spinning with all he wanted to accomplish, he could already cast some spells without the use of a wand, as he demonstrated in Snape's class but it was still hit and miss, it required a lot of focus to pull off and sometimes nothing happened instead but that was the lucky version of failure, sometimes his spells hit an entirely different target, he even one time cast the spell on himself by mistake.

He reached the entrance and performed the usual opening ceremony and got to his experiments, he had developed a routine by now, first, he would spend a couple of hours researching and learning new spells, then he would spend a couple of more hours trying to cast the spells he already knew without a wand to varying degrees, some spells were straight forward, while other spells where a foil for accidents and other spells led to nothing happening at all.

after that, he would spend the rest of his time on his big project, he needed an object to work on at first so he would take two of the stones he had been collecting and using transfiguration he would mold them into what he imagined the philosopher stone looked like from what he remembered from the movie, but that was only the first step, after that he would try and cast that elusive spell that he had been working on almost half the semester, the books he was reading were old because of the fact that he was looking at books from the room of requirements, and that carried its own advantages because it was old it wasn't regulated as the modern spell which was interviewed with limitations and ways to track its use.

but on the other hand, it was a long process with many steps that seemed useless and unnecessary, he had first tried to optimize it by using some modern alternatives to some of the steps, but he was never successful so he decided to try to at least make it work using the original method before trying to mess around with its components and internal structure.

today was the culmination of his efforts, he had been preparing for this moment for the better part of two weeks, and now he would finally see what his efforts lead to.

After some final prep work, he took each of the stones to a different side of the room, and then he cast his spell on both stones, finally, he went near the first stone, and holding his breath he reached forward and touched it.