Susan pulled her book closer. "Most wizards are pretty bad with silent casting. It is why Auror training has gotten longer after they leave Hogwarts, and even then some don't manage it." She pointed a finger at a page. "Incarcerous, creates animated rope that can tie someone up. Don't know if it can do cable or chain as well, but we should look it up."
Neville paused on a page. "Levicorpus seems useful for several things. It grabs a person and allows you to levitate them. Locomotor Mortis seems like an older version of the Leg-Lock curse. Still useful."
Susan paused. "We should reorganize these. Lets make a list of all the spells with similar effects. Anything that paralyzes a part of the body in to column A, everything that allows forced movement into column B, anything that affects the mind into column C."
Neville pulled out more parchment and began re-listing. "To make it easier to remember?"
She shook her head. "To see if Harry can combine some of them. If they seem so similar, maybe he could make a really simple to cast version and a really strong but slow one. You know, something not well known. It would give Aurors the edge in battle, without having to slaughter everyone."
Neville grinned. "Wouldn't have the same cancellations either, so they could be used in real battles to gain prisoners and enemy information."
Susan grinned and wondered how long it would take for Neville to realize he had forgotten to be shy.
Hopefully a while.
Padma was working on a new skin cream that would use small amounts of magic to perfectly match undamaged skin and then set itself, creating a cover-up that wouldn't wash off till dispelled. She had also gotten Fred and George Weasley's help setting the counter charm to something non-standard to prevent accidentally (Or in the case of mean people, purposefully) messing up the look. The problem was that she had accidentally gotten some on her finger and then on her lip.
So now her mouth was sealed shut.
She mumbled in annoyance, waiting in the Hospital Wing until Madam Pomfrey could decipher her terrible scribbles and cast the counter, "Kittens Rule."
She really should have waited for Tracey to get back before fiddling with the prototypes.
Padma tried to grumble quieter as she retreated to her mental world. If she was stuck here for five minutes (WHICH IS FOREVER, MERLIN), then she might as well hug a kitten.
Madam Pomfrey nearly had a heart attack when she finally got the counter-spell and found Padma in what appeared to be some sort of self induced coma. Thankfully Padma managed to distract her long enough to get away, claiming daydreams and kittens. Thankfully it was close enough to the Truth that Padma could pull it off.
Harry nervously sat in a chair in Merp 2, facing an elegant beauty and a woman full of innuendos and energy.
"So Harry, going to tie us up?"
Daphne flushed slightly and swatted Tracey's shoulder. "NO... I mean, no. Not that kind of rope. Shh."
Harry had a glowing face. "Ahh... Sorry to disappoint you, Tracey."
The girls eyes dropped before going back to his face. "Oh, I'm sure you..."
Daphne THANKFULLY got a hand over the girls mouth and gave an awkward eep. "SO POTTER, uh... Ready to do that rope thing you talked about?" Tracey grinned as Harry seemed to blush more, and pulled the hand from her mouth. "Oh my, Daphne. So Forward."
Harry tried to focus. "So we should have probably done this without Tracey, huh?"
Daphne didn't get a chance to answer. "Nothing wrong with an extra pillow, Harry."
Ah, so Daphne DOES know the silencing spell. The two blushing children tried to ignore the hyperactive girl. Harry cleared his throat. "So now that we have made this as awkward as possible, shall we move on?"
Daphne gave a relieved smile. "PLEASE, feel free. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can pretend none of that happened."
Tracey was wiggling her eyebrows. She found this whole situation FAR too funny for Harry's tastes. Harry gently placed a palm on both their foreheads and his eyes glowed. "First, allow me to introduce you to my world."
Daphne felt the soft palm on her skin and felt a tingle run through her body. Somehow it felt more intimate because of the tenderness, the softness of the touch. As she tried to stay calm she saw Harry's eyes begin to glow...
Green. Deep, crystal green, with ribbons of white creating deep patterns. Waves. Stripes. The world began to fade. Gently at first, she began to smell... stone. Freshly chiseled, etched with runes over the course of months. Her fingers felt slightly rough, like she had spent the day carving some masterpiece. Her ears heard the echo of a deep cavern, and her skin felt cool with the earth's breath flowing over it.
She was falling into those eyes.
Tracey always felt being outrageous protected her. If everyone else was off guard, if she could control where the conversation was going, she had power. She was protected.
She was scared. Scared of doing this. But Daphne was set on this, and Tracey trusted her.
Harry's hand felt cool on her skin. As she tried to stay still, his hand seemed to settle her, like a stone holding her in place in the world. Suddenly she was no longer worried about the future, or alliances, or grades... there was only now.
As she felt the calm soak into her body, she could feel... safety. She looked up...
Green. Harry's eyes were like an ocean, slowly rolling over her without covering her mouth or nose. Just relaxing on a beach as the warm salty water rolled along her body, pushing and pulling her across the sand. Her ears could almost hear seagulls as her fingers flexed to touch the grains of sand. Her mouth started to turn into a real smile, carefree... as the waves began to gently pull her toward some distant island.
Harry had a smile on his face as he sat at a white metal table. Jim was away, training his Duck Avengers to act more like ninjas for future mind missions. Wisdom however said she would have some time to join them after she finished organizing the Ward information Harry had gained today.
As he watched, both girls arrived. Daphne wearing an almost black shirt with blue streaks, Tracey with hot pink. Tracey looked at the shirt with an appraising eye. "Oh my... this is nice." She raised an eyebrow.
Daphne squirmed a bit. "Bit revealing though, isn't it? Especially compared to a robe."
Tracey grinned. "Oh you haven't BEGUN to see revealing yet." Harry coughed, pushing two cups of tea forward. "Sorry, I had to pick clothing out for each of you. Until you remember to think of yourself with clothing... well, it can be a bit awkward." He tried not to notice the other two blushing. "Anyway, the color I chose because it matches the color of your own cores."
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