Unraveling the Unknown

After meeting with Harry in the library, I was feeling upbeat. My good mood continued when I saw Sam before class, and he gave me a nod in greeting instead of ignoring me, as I'd feared he might after learning about my heritage.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey, yourself," I replied. "How's everything on your end? Last night got… wacky."

"Tell me about it," Sam sighed. "I could barely sleep my head was so full of thoughts."

He discreetly looked about, checking to see if anyone was listening in. Nobody was, but it was a smart thing to do all the same.

"Can I swing by your flat after school?" he asked. "I have some more questions."

"Sure thing, I'll do what I can to help," I replied. Sam nodded gratefully, and together we waited for the school day to come to an end.

Once it was over, we hastened to make our way to my home, and I let him inside.

"Sorry about the mess," I said as he eyed the pile of vials and magical ingredients in the kitchenette.

"No problem," he muttered. "Still trying to wrap my head around this 'magic' stuff."

"Yeah, I get it," I said sympathetically. I pulled out a chair for him and turned on the electric kettle for tea. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I have a couple questions," he admitted.

"Ask away," I said.

"Do potions work on, well, anyone?" he asked.

"Some work better on magicals, others can be multipurpose. It depends on what you want to do," I replied. "Most healing potions can work on anybody, because the healing effect is coming from the potion itself, rather than drawing from the body's reserves of magic."

"And what about spells?" Sam queried.

"Spells work on anybody," I confirmed. "Magical or mundane, it doesn't matter who the target is. Some wizards argue they're more effective on non-magicals, because they lack inner reserves of magical energy and thus lack magic resistance, but in my opinion, that's just pureblood bias talking. Plus, there's no proof of natural 'magic resistance' even existing. At least in humans. Some magical creatures have it, like basilisks, sphinxes, and dragons, but no sapient magical race has anything like that."

I then cocked my head to the side. "Sorry, got lost on a tangent. Is there anything else, Sam?"

"How much can magic do?" Sam asked.

"A lot. If there's not a spell for something, it's not impossible to try and invent a new one, but that takes time and a lot of different disciplines and areas of study. And whatever a spell cast by a wand can do, potions and runes can do as well."

Sam took a deep breath, shoulders tense. "Can… can it turn me into a woman?"

Sam's question hung in the air for a long time even after he'd spoken and I slowly shook my head.

"No, I'm unaware of anything currently in existence that can do that," I admitted. "There might be gender swapping curses, and there are a plethora of physical alternation spells and potions, but to my knowledge, none of them are permanent."

I then leaned in towards my best friend. "How long have you been, uh, you know… thinking about this?"

"Um, a year or so," he admitted, the tension in his posture easing up slightly when I didn't immediately act weirded out. "I've been thinking about it for a while, but… I just don't know. I don't feel right. Like my body doesn't fit. Does that make sense?"

"Sounds like body dysmorphia," I claimed. "But to be honest… yeah, I kinda do know what not feeling 'right' in your body is like."

Sam tilted his head to the side, before his eyes widened. "Oh. Because of the, um, squib stuff?"

"That's part of it, yeah," I said. I didn't say a thing about my first couple of years as a baby in this world, trying to rationalize and come to terms with suddenly going from an adult to a newborn, and then also having a completely different appearance and everything else that came along with reincarnation.

Occlumency helped shove it down deep where it couldn't bother me, but at nights, I sometimes lay awake, terrified of waking up one day in a whole new body in a new world, as if this one had been naught but a dream. It wasn't fun. At all.

"I'm sorry," Sam said, looking down at the table.

"It's fine. And I'm sorry I can't help you immediately," I replied. "But! That doesn't mean I can't one day find an answer to your question."

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

"Sure! If magical folk can brew a potion that literally alters a person's luck, then I can damn well invent a gender changing potion," I replied firmly, folding my arms.

"That's amazing!" Sam said excitedly.

"Yup," I said with a nod.

"So… your healing cream. Is it real? I mean, is it real magic?" Sam asked.

"It is! But it uses completely mundane ingredients. The 'spark' of magic that gives it its unique properties comes from a combination of enchanted brewing items and the faint magical energy within the ingredients. All living things have magic in them, you know. Most things lack enough to actually do anything, though."

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