Chapitre 124: Situational Moralism
Godric's Hollow, Aug. 14th
Walking down the hill from the Quidditch pitch, Harry carefully made his way to a seldom used part of the Potter property. Fighting the urge to turn around and get something to eat, he cleared his mind and continued onward until he reached a large oak tree that was strangely forgettable. Tracing his wand down the middle of the tree, Harry felt the Notice-Me-Not charm fade away. Stepping past the tree, he carefully replaced the spells and added a Muffliato to ensure his privacy.
Enjoying the crisp night air, Harry moved between two large bushes and into a circular clearing that was almost completely surrounded by large trees. This was where Harry had honed some of the more dangerous curses he had committed himself to learning for the Triwizard Tournament, and all around him were testaments to how far he had come over the summer. To his left there were trees that were barely standing from curse damage while on his right a line of evergreens had holes the size of Quaffles through the middle of their trunks.
Tonight would be different though. Tonight, Harry wasn't here to curse the trees or bewitch any local animal.
Moving to the center of the clearing, Harry repeatedly cast aguamenti on the ground, moistening the earth. Ignoring the worms that had started to come to the moist surface, he knelt down, muttered an incantation, and placed the tip of his wand into the muddy ground. As soon as his wand sank into the mud, there was a hiss and smoke could be seen rising from where his wand and the earth touched.
Slowly, Harry began to drag his arm in a circle, his wand baking the dirt it touched.
As Harry moved his wand, he tried to keep his emotions in check. This was magic on a different level. Magic that many never learned, let alone attempted.
Once the circle was completed, Harry stood up and inspected his work. Everything appeared just as Romulus' notes described it: a pool of muddy earth contained within a circle, sealed separately from the rest of the ground.
Closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths, Harry cleared his mind. It hadn't taken long for him to read through the book Calypso had sent him for his birthday, and he was fortunate to have it. While the book didn't include the necessary spells that Romulus had provided, it did explain the theoretical foundation for what needed to be done, and, more importantly, why.
While the effect he was seeking might be accomplished through extremely advanced Charms and Transfiguration, the ritual would cut down on the time and difficulty significantly. This expediency had a cost, but Harry was willing to pay it.
Taking a step forward so that he was standing directly over wet dirt, Harry raised his wand and cast a weak accio at the muddied ground.
Slowly, various worms, beetles, and other insects started to emerge from the mud and crawled around the ritual space. "The blood of the earth," Harry intoned stoically while casting a wide arching laceration curse at the creatures, killing them instantly.
Harry felt the slightest tremor come from below his feet, but he paid it no heed as he pressed forward. Running his wand down the palm of his hand, Harry let a few drops of blood fall into the circle before quickly healing himself. "Blood of the caster."
Watching the ground carefully, Harry was pleased to see that the muddied earth was now slowly twisting and turning in a clockwise circle. Harry reached in the small bag he brought with him and removed a tiny rabbit he had caught earlier in the day. Casting another sleeping charm on the animal, Harry couldn't help but feel a little disquieted by what he was about to do.
Casting a spell into the swirling mud, a small chasm opened up within the ritual space. Forcing away his emotions, Harry dropped the rabbit into the small hole before reversing the sleeping charm.
The rabbit's eyes snapped open, and, realizing its location, immediately tried to escape. As soon as its feet touched the swirling earth that encircled it, the mud seemed to collapse in on itself, pinning the creature underneath. Harry winced slightly as the rabbit managed to get its head above the mud, only to be sucked back under more forcefully. When the ritual space began glowing white, Harry solemnly said, "Life of the image."
Raising his wand, Harry cast the final spell, watching intently as it struck the earth.
Immediately, two muddy, yet discernible, legs erupted out of the mud and began to frantically search for dry land. The legs were quickly followed by a head, body, and, finally, a pair of rear legs and tail. Doing his best to maintain his focus, Harry kept his wand leveled at the small rabbit that stepped free of the mud.
As soon as it exited the ritual circle, the creature's body dropped into a defensive stance, its empty black eyes tracking Harry's every movement.
Even from where he stood, Harry could easily tell that the construct wasn't actually alive. Its entire body seemed to be made of the swirling mud that comprised the ritual circle. Taking a step forward, Harry was unprepared for the rabbit construct to leap at him, one of its paws lashing out to cut him.
Harry just managed to side-step the construct. He watched as it crashed to the earth, the landing collapsing the creature's back legs and reducing them back to mud.
The construct opened its mouth to screech at Harry, but no sound came out. Instead, Harry got a clear look into the construct's mouth. Where there should have been a tongue, teeth, and internal body parts, there was only a gaping maw filled with maggots and insects that seemed to be clawing over each other to escape.
Realizing that something had gone very wrong with the ritual, Harry released a powerful blast of water, hitting the construct. While he hadn't managed to dramatically improve upon his casting of Aqua Eructo, Harry found his control for his other water spells was improving with his continued practice of the difficult charm.
Within a few moments, the continued water pressure broke the construct's muddy body apart. Wrinkling his nose as the terrible smell, Harry vanished the mud with a flick of his wrist.
Casting a series of cleaning charms on his robes, Harry decided to call it a night.
"I need to catch another rabbit," Harry muttered to himself as he left the clearing. "The construct didn't look right, and it wasn't obeying commands like it was supposed to."
Walking out from beyond the trees, Harry quickly crossed the distance to his house; however, the sight of a light inside the kitchen gave him pause.
Harry had always been careful about not leaving any trace of his late night ventures outside, and the last thing he would do is leave a light on – someone must be awake.
Hoping that his parents hadn't found out he was out of bed, Harry cast a disillusionment and silencing charm on himself. Carefully looking through a kitchen window, he let out a slight relieved breath when he saw it was only his brother sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of pumpkin juice.
Making his way to the back door, Harry cast a Notice-Me-Not charm, and slowly crept inside.
Walking past the kitchen, Harry heard the slight scraping of one of his family's wooden chairs against the wood floor. Pausing slightly, Harry leaned into the kitchen when he heard his brother say something.
"...ust a dream. Yeah, nothing to worry about. Probably shouldn't eat chocolate that late again."
Scowling at his brother's stupid reason for being up so late, Harry immediately made his way back upstairs and into his room.
He never saw his pale and frightened brother follow him up the stairs a few minutes later.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone