Chapitre 24: Teaching Hermione

From that day onward, Hermione started to spend more and more time with him in abandoned classes where he would use the time turner and teach her Transfiguration or Charms.

It wasn't that she was behind him in the subjects. In fact, she had already completed all the theory of first year but reading a book on transfiguration does not make you a transfiguration expert.

It just makes you a well read person.

"It's about your intent and will more than anything else." Harry explained "Saying the incantation and waving the wand in the correct manner will help but they're only there to help. The main power comes from your will. When you point your wand at the cup, you need to focus all your intent on it and and then you must will it to change. And your magic will do the rest."

"You know I've heard that explanation hundred times already." Hermione huffed angrily "But I still can't change this blasted thing into a crystal ball."

Looking at her angry and defeated expression, Harry thought about it a bit and tried to recall all the helpful tips he'd read in the books about transfiguration so that he could help her complete the task.

"Well, how about you try visualizing the changes in the cup in various steps?" he asked.

"Visualizing?" she asked.

"Yes. Take a mental image of the crystal ball in your mind. Then start changing the cup into a crystal ball in various steps. First imagine the metal changing into glass from top to bottom. A bit at a time. Then imagine the cup shrinking in itself slowly until it gains a spherical shape. And there you have it. A crystal ball. Try it." He said.

She looked skeptically at him but decided to follow his instructions regardless.

Harry could understand her hesitation. After all, things such a will, intent and visualisation were never truly taught in the classes. He had no idea why Minerva never taught the students about this method of transfiguring things instead of doing it the easy way by relying on your will and intent,

Harry had realized that incantations and wand movements were like crutches for a person who was learning how to walk.

In his opinion, those crutches should never be used unless there is something seriously wrong with your magic and you can't perform it without the use of the crutches. But not only does the students in this school rely on those crutches but they also come to overly rely on them as time passes to the point that once they become an adult and their magic matures properly, it gets very, very hard for them to let go of those crutches.

After something deep thinking, he realize that maybe there was a reason behind it all.

After all, he had been practicing how to use his magic based on will and intent alone for the past four years without any incantation or wand movement. And he could easily recall the many failures he met in his early years when he was not even able to use his magic to call a book to himself.

Maybe Hogwarts teaches magic they way it does because it provides instant results instead of the slow method that he chose when he started to learn about magic.

After all, he may be crazy about learning magic but not everyone else had his drive.

Who knows how many of them would have dropped the classes and then the school after Minerva spent the first half of the year simply telling them to pull a piece of paper and they were still not able to do it.

In it's comparison, saying an incantation, waving a wand and then getting a result instantly was so much more satisfying.

Yes, maybe there was a reason why the teachers did what they did.

But that didn't made them right. Or wrong. Just different.

His path was different from theirs and in a way, he was grateful for his path because even though he had a shaky start, he was now far beyond the capabilities of his peers. Or even other students who were far older than himself.

He was brought out of his musings by a shriek of happiness before he was once again engulfed in a hug by an excited Hermione who had just completed her transfiguration perfectly.

"I did it. I did it. I did it. Thank you so much Harry. This transfiguration is taught to us at the end of the year and I've already managed to perform it perfectly."

"Yes. You did." He said with a smile and let her have this moment of happiness before he continued "But there's still so much more for you to learn."

She looked at him with some confusion "But Harry, I've you already learned how to do all the transfigurations from the first yes. OH! You now want me to learn how to perform second year Transfigurations. Don't you? Oh this is so exciting. I bet none of the other students have managed to do this so far." She said before breaking the hug and going back to the crystal ball.

"Tell me what I should do next Harry." She said, bouncing in excitement and he felt a bit bad for what he was about to do next.

"Now you'll have to learn how to focus your will and intent on a object. Because the better you're at it, the better control you'll have over your magic." He explained in a sagely manner which only confused her even more.

He sighed and decided that since he was about to do this anyway, he might as well show her the true extent of his talent.

"Hold my wand." He said and gave his wand to her who just looked even more perplexed at his actions.

In wizarding world, giving your wand to others was not something that people usually did. If ever. Because giving your wand to other signifies your giving all your power to the other person because most wizards and witches are not capable of doing much magic without their wands.

Because of that, giving your wand to someone else also shows the sign of ultimate trust.

Like how Narcissa gave her wand to Draco once he lost his own wand to Harry.

But he was different from the others and made sure to never overly rely on his wand even if it was a huge help when performing magic.

"Now look carefully. I'll show you how to perform magic with just your will and intent alone. And a lot of visualizing. No wand waving and incantation. Just magic in it's purest form. Watch carefully because this is the most farthest I've reached in transfiguration so far." Except for the human transfigurations he'd been performing as of late. But of course, those were two different things.

And he doubted that she would like to see human transfiguration in the first place.

Then he focused his magic, will and intent on the crystal and visualized it being transfigured into a sparrow before finally adding the key element, life, to it and watched in fascination as a live sparrow took the place of the crystal glass ball and cocked it's head to look at the two of them before it flapped it's wings and flew away.

He then turned to look at Hermione who was looking at him with a gob smacked expression.

He chuckled at her expression which brought her out of her moment of shock before he was flooded with questions.

"What? How? When? How could you? That's… Harry. That's a… I don't know.. A 6th or 7th year transfiguration. And you did it without a wand or an incantation. How?" by now she was looking at him imploringly and he knew that he had chosen the right student for himself.

"Well sit down then. And I'll teach you how to do it." He said and watched in fascination as she followed his orders while looking at him like he was some like of Messiah. Or Merlin reborn.

He really overdid it with that sparrow, didn't he.

Then he turned a matchbox into a piece of paper before giving the paper to her who looked at it questioningly.

"Now keep you wand on the table. You won't be needing it for this exercise." He said and spent the next ten minutes explaining her that she needed to use her Intent and Will and a bit of visualization to pull the paper toward herself.

And she spent the rest of the day in frustration. Trying to pull the paper to herself without much success.

Yes, maybe there was a reason why this method of learning was not taught in the school.

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
Fortunate_Soul

Just wanted to write this note to say a big Thank You for all the support you guys have given me and this story.

It means a lot to me.

So yeah.

Thank you :)

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Chapitre 25: Extension charms and Ancient Runes

Hermione's birthday was in two weeks. And although Harry had learned how to perform the extension charm perfectly by now, that didn't mean that he was capable of creating a Bottomless pouch for her.

Well, he could create one for her but it wouldn't be good enough as a gift.

There was far more to creating a Bottomless Pouch or a Trunk then simply performing the extension charm and being done with it.

For example If you create a library inside a trunk, and then you flip the trunk, then would the whole library be turned upside down and be destroyed?

No, that would be a disaster of epic proportions so there were charms in place to make the expanded space more stable. So that no matter how the trunk was turned from the outside, the inside will remain peaceful and stable.

Then there were the charms that constantly changed the air inside the expended space so that it would not go stale and cause the person inside to suffocate.

And if there was a whole library worth of books inside a trunk, then how would a person ever be able to pick up the trunk.

So there was another charm that would negate the weight of the things kept inside the trunk.

Then there were charms that would put things like food and potions in stasis so that it would not go stale or rot or become useless in a day or two.

There were also charms for the proper lightening so that the space inside the trunk won't remain dark.

And shrinking charm that is placed on everything that a person puts inside a Bottomless Pouch. Otherwise it would be impossible to a hardcover book inside a Bottomless Pouch because of the small size of it's neck.

All in all, there were more than 30 different types of charms that needed to be applied and carved into the trunk in rune form and then the runes are connected to a ward stone that would keep providing magic to the trunk before a expanded space could be called a success.

Sufficient to say that he might have been learned how to do the extension charm but he lacked the knowledge required to perform the other charms just yest. What it meant was that he was in no position to create a gift for Hermione.

Maybe in the future when he learn those charms but not now.

And since he couldn't create it for her, it meant that he needed to buy it for her instead.

And in order to buy it for her, he would need to go to Diagon alley. A place which was more than 400 miles away from Hogwarts.

If he used one of the school brooms to go from Hogwarts to Diagon Alley then it would take about 3-4 hours to make the journey and the same amount of time to come back.

Now he could easily do that with the help of the time turner but he was still not willing to waste that much time when there were other alternatives of magical travel that he could use.

It was one of the reasons why he left Hogwarts at midnight in order to get away from the wards that would impede the type of magical travel that he wanted to learn.

Apparition.

He wanted to learn how to apparate because it was the fastest method of travel that existed in the world as far as he could tell.

He knew that this method of travel was uncomfortable and knew that if he made any kind of mistake then he would inevitably get splinched.

In fact, many people get splinched when they first try to learn how to apparate.

It was just a common thing that happened to just about everybody except a rare few who were able to perform flawless Apparition from the get go.

Most of the people who get splinched however, suffers from only minor injuries like getting a small cut in their leg or arm. Or losing a toenail or a few strands of hair. Nothing major. Otherwise wizards would have long discarded this method of travelling due to fear.

He would admit that he was a bit surprised when he managed to do a Perfect Apparition on his first try.

Of course the apparition was performed in a short distance where the destination was visible to him but that still didn't discount the fact that he was able to teach himself how to apparate without any damage.

Then he thought about the three Ds of Apparition. Destination, Determination and Deliberation and thought about how it worked and everything instantly became clear to him.

Apparition was one of the purer form of magic. You don't need any wand movement or incantation to perform it.

You just need visualization, will and intent. And that was something that he was a master at.

So in hindsight, he should not have been surprised when he managed to perfect the art of Apparition without any problem.

Maybe those people who were able to do successful Apparition from their first time knew the importance of Will and intent and were more intuned with their magic than other wizards and witches.

But that still didn't meant that Apparition was a perfectly safe mode of travel.

It was just as safe as a car drive. Which means that if you're careless, then no matter how good you're at it, you'll still get fucked.

Or splinched.

So yes, he knew that he had to be careful whenever he wanted to do this form of magical travel.

And that was a good news because he now had the means to travel instantly from place to place without any problems.

This called for a celebration but before that, he needed to go to Diagon Alley so that he could buy a gift for Hermione which was the main reason why he had learned Apparition in the first place.

So after drinking an Aging potion, wearing an adult wizard's robe and covering himself with a mild shroud of concealment, he finally apparated to Diagon Alley.

And reached his destination without splinching.

—————

"Professor Bathsheda Babbling." He called out and was rewarded with an opened door after a few minutes of waiting.

A middle aged woman with brown-red colored hair wearing black silky robes came out of the door and her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him.

"Harry Potter, my word. What are you doing here child?" she asked after she reined in her surprised expression.

He felt a sting at his pride for being called a child but he knew that 'beggars can't be choosers' so he reined in his pride and gave her a smile in return, which probably just looked creepy on his face, if the slight cringe on her expression was any indication.

"Hello Professor." He said and took out the basic course book on Ancient runes that he found in the Room of Hidden things and showed it to her. "I want to learn how to carve runes properly without blowing myself up."

The looked at him questioningly for a moment before she sighed and shook her head sadly "You're just a 1st year student Mr Potter. I cannot teach you Ancient Runes until you're a 3rd year. And I'll not make an exception for anyone. Not even you."

"You misunderstood me Professor." He said while shaking his head "I'm going to learn Ancient Runes on my own and carve runes with or without your permission. Now you can either teach me how to do it safely or you can leave me to do it on my on and then later explain to the authorities how the Boy-who-lived blew himself up because the teachers in Hogwarts were unwilling to teach him." He said with a somber expression and watched in fascination as her expression hardened at once.

"Is that a threat Mr Potter?" she asked in a cold voice and he shook his head with a blank expression of his own, not feeling the slightest bit intimidated by her.

"No. Just simple facts. You can either teach me. Or I will be forced to learn on my own. There is no in between."

With those words, a staring contest started between the two of them and lasted for almost a minute before she removed her gaze and let out a sigh and he knew that he had won this confrontation. Now he just needed to push her a bit more so that she would buckle under the pressure and accept to teach him about the subject.

"Alright Mr Potter. I will teach you how to carve runes on a surface without blowing yourself up. But you will need the permission of Headmaster Dumbledore and a written parchment signed by all the other teachers that says that you're well above your classmates in their respective subjects. Until you show me that parchment, I'll not be able to teach you Ancient runes." She finished and he felt the irritation climb at those words.

"I will not go begging other people to sign a parchment for me." He said with no small amount of venom in his voice and the woman looked at him as if he'd slapped her in the face.

"You'll either teach me the subject or you'll not. But I'll not play your games of authority like a sheep." He said and then the anger ebbed away from his face at once. "Now I'll ask you one last time. Will you teach me Ancient Runes or will you not?" he asked softly and the woman looked a bit scared and worried for a moment before she schooled her expression and looked at him in a dignified manner before speaking.

"I'm afraid you'll have to give me a parchment signed by all the teacher and headmaster indicating that you're well beyond your classmates in your subjects before I even think about teaching you my subject. I'll not make an exception for you just because you're a celebrity Mr Potter. You can either do as you're told or I'll refuse to teach you my subject. Am I clear Mr Potter?"

He gave her a glare in return for her words for a long moment before he reined in his emotions. Then his expression went cold and he gave her one last glance and left the room without another word.