Chương 74: Penelope's small contrebution
Harry looked mildly surprised at the noise and smell coming from inside the trunk and Penelope laughed at that.
"It seemed like you over did it with the lure Harry." She commented as she finished transfiguring her 7th cage, trying very hard to ignore the 80 or so cages created by Harry in the same amount of time.
Even Hermione seemed to have done better than her by creating 18 cages in the same amount of time.
She held a sigh at that. She would not lie and say that she didn't felt envious of their talent. She did.
But she was also happy for them. Especially for Harry whom she now saw as a little brother and felt glad that he would involve her in his projects despite her not being of much help.
"Yes. I would seem like I did went a bit overboard at that." Harry said in a mildly amused tone "Wonder if I should open a shop for lures and baits. Name would be 'Harry's delicious worms'."
"Did you really crack a joke just now." Hermione gasped from the side "Who are you and what have you done with my Harry?"
Penelope wondered if she was the only one who noticed the 'My Harry' part in her words.
"Come on Mione. I'm not that bad." He said with a scowl though the slight crease near his eyes clearly showed his mirth.
She and Hermione looked at each other at that and then chorused "Yes you are."
Harry mock huffed at that before he gazed down inside the trunk once again "Well, I don't think these rats are going to go inside the cages themselves so let's get to it."
With that, he waved his hand and a few rats flew out of the trunk and went into the cage with each wave.
Penelope stared in awe at the blatant use of wandless magic on Harry's part for a moment before she regained her senses.
That never, never got old.
Then she mumbled 'Wingardium Leviosa' and started doing her part as well.
'Her little part.' She thought with a bitter smile.
"Harry. Are you going to put it in that place?" Hermione asked after they had put all the rats (who have now advanced to lab rats) inside their cages and told Bitty to release the rest back into the London Sewers.
"Yes." Harry replied and gave Penelope an apologetic gaze.
She just shook her head at his apology, indicating that the apology was unneeded as she realized that they must be talking about the new secret that Harry had showed to Hermione.
The secret that she was not let in on because her occlumency shields were still not that strong.
And hadn't that been a surprise.
To know that the Headmaster and Professor Snape could just enter your mind and find out your surface thoughts without you ever knowing about it.
"Wouldn't… she… eat them." Hermione said and Penelope realized that 'she' must have something to do with the 'secret' and didn't comment on it.
"No. I'll talk with her." He said before he started levitating all the cages inside another newly made trunk.
Penelope wondered where he got these trunks from. Or all those other resources that he used in his projects but knew that this must be another one of his so called 'secrets' which they'll learn eventually once their occlumency shields become strong enough.
With that thought, she also took out her wand and started levitating the trunks inside one by one, trying to ignore the stench coming from so many rats.
You might need to do these distasteful things once in a while when you're with Harry but you can be assured that there will always be something new to do and to learn when you're with him.
That's just the kind of person that Harry was.
—————
"Bombarda" Harry said lazily and the rat was blasted into pieces.
Hermione looked at the grisly sight in shock for a moment before she ran to the dustbin Harry had conjured for her and emptied the contents in her stomach inside it.
She seemed to be doing that quite a bit these days.
Harry had said that it was all for magic and deep down she agreed with him but that didn't change the fact that she would definitely be seeing that scene in her nightmare.
Perhaps she would ask Harry for a Dreamless Sleep Potion.
She knew that Harry didn't kept such potions for himself as he was not bothered by such sights but she also knew that if she asked him for it then he would definitely bring it for her.
He was just that resourceful. And caring.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the mangled remains of the rat pushed it's way to her thoughts and she retched inside the dustbin once again, feeling absolutely miserable until a hand took pulled her hair to the back and another gently massaged her back.
And just like that, she felt fine.
She wondered if Harry used some kind of intent magic to help her feel better or it his touch was just that magical for her.
She realized that she didn't want to know the answer to that question.
"Test subject 0001 was demolished under the influence of the Bombarda curse otherwise known as the 'Exploding curse'." Harry said while massaging her back and she could hear the quill scratches on the paper as the quill wrote down all his words in the notepad, something that was supposed to be her job.
She was not much of an assistant if she was busy emptying the contents of her stomach instead of focusing on the task at hand.
But she had asked him for this and she knew the risks beforehand so she won't back down now.
With that thought, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and stood with with renewed determination and snatched the quill and paper hovering in the air.
"The Bombarda curse seemed to be doing it's job perfectly." Harry continued, as if the episode with her never happened and she was grateful for it.
Then with a wave of his hand, the spattered remains of the test subject 0001 vanished from the wall as if they were never there in the first place.
"Readying Test Subject 0002." Harry said and she noted down all his words along with a few details that he might have missed like the size of the Bombarda curse and the distance between the caster and the test subject.
Harry agreed to her becoming his assistant because he knew that she had a detailed oriented mind and that she would not look over things during an experiment that he usually did. And she was eager to prove that he made the right decision. Eager to prove her worth.
After that, Harry took out another rat from the cage numbered 2 and then proceeded to wrap a parchment around the rat. A parchment that was filled with runic arrays. All with a wave of his hand of course.
She had stopped being envious of his prodigal talent some time ago but she still felt a pang of envy every now and then at the ease with which he did… everything.
But then she thought about her own improvements and consoled herself with the fact that she might be far behind him as a witch but she was also far ahead of her peers who were still learning how to change a leaf into a glass marble.
"Test subject 0002 equipped with a paper vest filled with runic array number 0089 made especially to stand up to Exploding curses." He said and she noted down everything just as quickly.
"Preparing for casting the Exploding curse on Test Subject 0002 at 3… 2… 1… Bombarda."
The curse was cast.
The curse was temporarily halted by the magical protection provided by the runic array written in the parchment.
The parchment then burned out due to overheating, erasing the protection of the runic array after which the curse went forward unimpeded.
The weakened curse hit the test subject.
The rat was splattered.
The empty stomach was emptied. Once again.
And the floating quill and parchment took over her job. Once again.
"You don't have to be so hard to yourself Mione." Harry murmured a soothing voice as he gently rubbed her back. His gentle touch doing it's wonders once again. "We can stop if you want. And continue some other day if you're not feeling well."
She must look like an absolute mess right now and despite that, he remained gentle with her.
While she simply wasted his time.
Time that she knew he could have spent focusing on his projects and experiments instead of her.
She could not give up. She would not give up. She would not allow herself to be a burden for him.
"No. I'll do it." She said and stood up with renewed determination and snatched up the quill and parchment hovering in the air. Once again.
She did felt a bit weak this time but she would not let such a small things stop her.
"Very well." Harry replied and went on to explain the recent failure in detail. Why he thought the test failed and she noted it all down, while adding a few more details that he might have missed.
"Redying test subject 0003" He said and took out the rat from the cage numbered 3.
"Test subject 0003 equipped with a cotton vest filled with runic array number 0089 made especially to stand up to Exploding curses." He said and she noted down everything just as quickly.
"Preparing for casting the Exploding curse on Test Subject 0003 at 3… 2… 1… Bombarda."
The test subject survived this time. Thankfully. And did not have to empty her stomach once again.
But her positive thoughts came to an end as he said "Increasing the power of Bombarda curse by 2 times."
The bombarda curse struck.
The cotton runic shield held for a moment before it broke.
The test subject died.
The nausea hit her full force.
She endured.
For a few seconds.
Then she ran to dustbin once again.
"We're taking a break." Harry said as he massaged her back gently and she shook her head "No we're not."
"We're taking a break Hermione." He said, a bit firmly this time and she shook her head once again and snarled at him. "No we're not." She determination in her words must have got through to him because he raised an eyebrow in surprise at her before rewarding her with a nod.
"Don't make me regret this Mione." He said gently before tying her hair in a ponytail so that they won't get in her way if she puked once again.
She won't.
He gave her a glass of clean water that she gulped down greedily before he continued the experiments once again.
Test subject 0004 was wrapped in Acromantula silk with dark runic symbols on top of it.
And when she said Acromantula silk, she meant pure white Acromantula silk that seemed to have been brought directly from an Acromantula's nest.
Knowing Harry like she did, he probably did brought it fresh from an Acromantula's nest.
She'd heard rumors that there there was one such nest deep in the forbidden forest.
She shook her thoughts and focused on the experiment.
The Acromantula silk runic vest held remarkably well and was able to protect the rat until Harry threw a Bombarda *8.
Then the Acromantula silk runic vest crumbled as well.
Hermione was frankly surprised that the Acromantula silk runic vest was able to hold on for as long as it did.
She was even more surprised that Harry was able to throw such powerful curses one after another without showing any signs of fatigue.
And lastly, she was surprised that she was able to hold down the water she just drank.
But regardless, the experiments continued.
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