Aeternum: Group Chat

Chapter 22: Unexpected Request

"Psychometry..." Harry breathed heavily as he stood up. "I thought I could only use it whenever I wanted and that it would only show me certain things. I didn't think I could even hear voices and images from the past."

Harry had an annoyed and slightly worried look on his face. He knew that his ability, which he had obtained as a reward, could be dangerous if he used it on an object that had been misused, such as a knife used to kill, or a wand used for the same. However, it was different now when it activated on its own with the invisibility cloak. And while this helped him better understand the cloak and the truth of the three brothers, his psychometry ability became both a blessing and a curse.

When Harry arrived and moved three times through the seventh floor hallway, he immediately entered the room of requirements. When he saw the room he always used to study, he sat down on a couch and sighed a little.

"Now I have to be very careful with what I touch. I have a feeling not all things would trigger my ability though. Maybe... just something that has a powerful past and connection of some sort," Harry became visible again as he wished and the cloak slipped from his body.

"This is even more amazing than I thought," Harry muttered, touching the cloak with his fingers.

"Although I am surprised that the 'death' in the brothers' story was actually an enemy," Harry shook his head. The death in the three brothers' story was actually not some kind of deity or scary thing that people thought, but rather a man who hated and had a personal grudge against the three brothers.

Antioch Peverell, the eldest of the brothers, lost and almost caused the three of them to die when they encountered this man for the second time. This caused him to feel weak and created the Elder Wand. Sadly, the power of it caused greed in other people and ended up being passed from wizard to wizard.

Cadmus Peverell suffered at the hands of the enemy man when he killed his wife. In his great sadness and despair, he created the resurrection stone. However, seeing and feeling how a 'veil' separated them and causing pain to his already dead wife, he committed suicide so he could be with her in death.

Ignotus Peverell created the invisibility cloak to go unnoticed by his enemy and used it almost all his life while hiding. When he decided it was his time, he gave it to his son and waited for his death at the hands of this man, who was already as old as him.

"But man... What did the brothers do to create someone with so much resentment?", Harry shook his head a little perplexed.

"Well, it's not that it's too important right now," Harry shook his head and took out his notebook, where he always wrote down all his ideas. But, right now, he was a little lost. How did he investigate the way transfigurations returned to what they were before they were transformed? Honestly, he didn't know exactly. He wanted to know how this happened, but he didn't know where to start.

Sighing heavily, Harry could only start with the same thing as last time, the magical particles. Slowly, he began to enter sage mode and focused on the magical particles that were now visible to his eyes. He pulled out his wand and also a small box of matches. When he pulled out a match and moved his wand exactly and transformed the match, Harry blinked and tilted his head.

"Huh?", Harry scratched his head, wondering if what he saw was correct.

"Once again...", Harry used transfiguration on a different match again, but the same thing happened.

"Mmm... before jumping to conclusions, I should see what happens when the transformation ends," Harry stood up with a groan of annoyance before throwing himself on the couch and lying down while looking at the matches. He hadn't used too much magic, so according to the equation they taught the first year of transfiguration, it shouldn't take that long to come back. Harry didn't know until the teacher explained to him that transfigurations weren't permanent.

Depending on the power you use in your wand, the time of the transfiguration could vary.

Well, Harry used more than he had expected, he had to wait a full hour before the transformation back into a match and he realized what he had seen was as he thought. However, this caused more questions in his head.

What had happened when he transformed the match into a needle, was that some magical particles moved towards the match when it transformed. And, when it returned to its state and form before the transformation, magical particles were emitted from the match. Harry theorized that they were the same ones that were originally attached to the match.

[New Event! - A New Dimension!

[You are an unprecedented magical researcher! [Discover how transfiguration is possible and open new doors to the wizarding world!]

[Reward: Divine Left Hand]

Harry blinked when he heard the notification on his phone and saw the quest. He was shocked to see what the reward was. The previous two quests he only found out about the rewards when the quest ended. And also, he read the quest twice, even a third time. There was always one or more little clues given to complete the quest.

"A new dimension?... That can be taken with various meanings, but it's the only thing that could be a clue in this case," Harry rubbed his chin as he thought carefully.

"Well, there's no time limit on quests, I'll just take my time doing this."

. . .

"Are you going to Hogsmade, Harry?" Hermione asked in the common room. Harry closed his notebook and nodded. As an emancipated young man, he didn't need a permit, just tell his head of house and also let Filch know he was leaving.

Hermione smiled before leaving with Harry, she was happy and excited to be able to spend a more relaxed time with Harry, talking about different topics. Since the change and they became friends again, they no longer talked about just Quidditch or simple things, now they also included study topics, which made Hermione more cheerful.

However, when they left the common room, they were stopped by the headmaster.

"Harry... Miss Granger"

"Headmaster, good morning," they both greeted with smiles.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need to talk to Harry about something important."

"Oh...", Hermione deflated a little.

"Calm down, Miss Granger," Dumbledore laughed a little. "We can walk to Hogsmeade, besides I don't think this conversation will last too long."

Hermione nodded and walked alongside the headmaster and Harry. The three of them walked out through the large doors of Hogwarts. Where they were, it was still freezing weather, so they were bundled up and walked through the snow calmly.

"May I know what you want to talk about, sir?", Harry asked while keeping his hands inside his jacket and part of his face next to his nose covered by his scarf.

"I'm sorry, Harry. But it's something serious and private, in fact it's not even something related to me, but to someone else. And as such, he couldn't easily talk to Miss Granger with us. But, this person is waiting in Hogsmeade to talk quietly."

"I see...", Harry nodded, keeping his face expressionless.

"But tell me Harry, how have you been these past few days? Minerva told me about your apparent interest in Transfiguration."

Hermione twitched her ears at this, and glanced at Harry, waiting for an answer.

"I was interested in the fact that the transformations weren't permanent. Specifically how they transform into something and then return to their previous form. Conjuring is something I can understand more easily, since you're summoning something that's close by or far away if you know the location. But the first is someone that no one knows."

Dumbledore smiled, he was proud to have someone like Harry at Hogwarts. A young man so curious and hungry for discovery, but who knew what was right and wrong. He wished there were more young people like Harry.

"Do you have something yet?" Albus asked as they continued walking, and Hermione became even more encouraged.

"Nothing too conclusive," Harry sighed. "The only thing I've been able to figure out is how magical particles are attracted to the object that is being transformed. Then, when the transformation is over, it exudes or expels the same magical particles that it attracted."

"It's as if the magical particles remember," Hermione commented, blinking a little bewildered.

"True... it is an intriguing phenomenon that I would like to observe," Albus commented, but stopped when he didn't see Harry at his side. He looked back, causing Hermione to stop as well. They both looked at Harry, who had his eyes wide with surprise and a gleam of expectation, his eyebrows raised and he looked straight ahead completely ignoring his two companions.

Hermione was about to call out to him, until she heard him laugh.

"Hahahaha! So such a thing is possible! I can't believe I would let such a thing slip by!" Harry laughed and exclaimed loudly before running over and lifting Hermione into his arms, but not before kissing her cheek.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed in embarrassment, but he ignored her.

"Thank you, Hermione!"

"It seems you've thought of something," Dumbledore commented in amusement at seeing Hermione's reaction.

"Yes... But I won't say anything until everything is proven," Harry smiled and looked at Hermione. "Would you like to help me?... If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have the 'enlightenment'"

"Really?", Hermione blushed not only for being kissed by Harry, but also for being asked to join his research. She was extremely happy about both things, but her mind seemed to ignore her happiness at the kiss on her cheek.

"Yes... You are smart and could be of great help. Two heads are better than one, or so some say"

"Hahaha!... You are right about that, Harry", Dumbledore laughed a little, especially at Hermione's reactions.

"However, we have to continue. This person I mentioned, is waiting for us at the three broomsticks"

Harry nodded before looking at Hermione once more: "I'll see you later, Hermione"

"Well...", she nodded, moving her hand over her coat, still a little embarrassed. And, without them realizing it, someone had been watching them from a little further away.

. . .

When Harry was led to a private room inside the Inn of the Three Broomsticks. When he entered, he found four people. Two were already adults and seemed to be in their thirties or late forties. Of the other two, Harry recognized one and she was his age, the last one seemed younger than him.

The older ones were a man and a woman. The man had a face with small wrinkles on his forehead and under his eyes. His irises were grey and his hair was short and combed back, having a dark brown color with grey spots, denoting his age a little. He was dressed in a grey suit, with a light blue shirt underneath and a blue tie. He also had round-framed glasses, similar to Harry's.

The woman had black hair and did not seem to have any grey hair. Her face only had wrinkles in the form of two lines, one under each of her eyes. Her irises were also grey and her clothing consisted of a long purple dress with ruffles at the bottom and sleeves. Her hair was gathered on top of her head, giving her a refined appearance.

The other two people were girls, the first one was Harry's age, and looked very similar to the adult woman, except she was wearing her Hogwarts robes with a green scarf. Next to her, there was another girl, younger than her with brown hair and grey irises who was wearing the same outfit.

Harry recognized the girl his age as Daphne Greengrass.

"So... why do you need me?" Harry asked, looking at everyone, including Dumbledore.

"Harry..." Dumbledore stepped forward and extended a hand towards the apparent family.

"This is the Greengrass family, one of the oldest in the wizarding community of Great Britain. This is Gareth Greengrass and Cynthia Greengrass," Dumbledore pointed to the older ones. "The two young girls are Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, in their fourth and second years respectively."

Harry just raised an eyebrow: "So?"

The question caused many eyebrows to rise throughout the family. Harry was not impressed at all. Were they purebloods? Were they an ancient family? So what? The fact that Dumbledore had to introduce them already lowered their points in Harry's opinion. If they couldn't even introduce themselves, Harry wouldn't take them too seriously.

"Mr. Potter, I would like to... make a request," Gareth decided to speak, showing a serious expression.

"Oh?" This caught Harry's attention, who looked at Gareth with a bit of interest.

"A long time ago..." Gareth continued and began to explain seriously, "An ancestor of our family was the target of a blood curse. Honestly, we thought that he had disappeared from our family. But unfortunately, our Astoria fell victim to this blood curse."

"My request, is to see if it is possible that you can help my daughter."

Harry closed his eyes a little before touching one side of his glasses, camouflaging that movement by pretending to be adjusting them. He then rubbed his chin while thinking and opened his eyes to look at Astoria. He examined her from top to bottom, noticing how her blood seemed a bit stained, but unlike Remus' when he was a werewolf, Astoria seemed to move much slower, even slower than a normal person. Even in some places it would stagnate for a few seconds before moving again.

He walked over, and surprised everyone by taking Astoria by the hand, before he lifted the sleeve of her right arm. Her skin was a nice shade of white, but dark blue lines could be seen. Harry knew they were veins and, even though it was only on her forearm and something that could be hidden, if she left it untreated, more would appear throughout her life and if she didn't treat it, she would definitely die.

Harry wasn't one who knew excessively about Medicine, but he had read some things. And, if he wasn't mistaken, then those marks were due to a venous thrombosis.

Finally, after a long silence, Harry looked at Gareth.

"What do I gain from that?"

The question surprised everyone again, especially the family, which caused a slightly cold smile from Harry: "What? Did you think I would help you for nothing in return?"

"Remus Lupin was different from Astoria and the Greengrass family. He was a friend of my parents and therefore one of mine. If I could help others through Remus, so much the better. However, I don't know them at all, and I'm not a saint to help everyone either."

"Pureblood Family? Sacred Twenty-Eight? Ancients?...", Harry lowered his head slightly and smiled as his eyes sparkled, showing a surprising coldness.

"None of that matters to me..."

The only sign of frustration, or any emotion on Gareth's part, was seeing his jaw move a little, indicating that he clenched his teeth a little.

"Mr. Potter...", the first to appear to snap out of her surprise was Cynthia Greengrass, who looked at Harry seriously before bowing her head, surprising her daughters.

"Please... As long as it's in our power, we'll give you anything you ask for. But please help my daughter... help Astoria."

Harry looked at her for a moment before glancing at Gareth. He was expressionless, but his eyes shone for a moment with sadness.

Harry closed his eyes for a few moments before nodding: "I'll need some of Astoria's blood for this. And if you have any doubts, I can swear an oath saying that I won't use that blood for anything other than research into a cure for Astoria Greengrass."

"As for what I want...", Harry smiled a little, he extended his hand towards Gareth and his fingers in a slightly loose manner.

"I wish for your family's full support for the future."

"You're crossing the line too far," Daphne uttered coldly and angrily.

"Really?" Harry just smirked. "Too bad... then there's no deal."

"No... Okay," Gareth said immediately, surprising his daughters.

"Then we have a deal," Harry smiled.

. . .

Dumbledore watched as the family left after the oaths were made. Harry swore that he would not use Astoria's blood for anything other than research, which there was no point in doing. Just by looking at her blood he already knew what happened to her. And as for a cure... the Elixir would work perfectly.

The second oath he made, was about supporting the family. They would support Harry Potter as long as he did not endanger the family.

"Harry... May I ask why you were so cold?... Maybe even ruthless."

Harry looked at Dumbledore before sighing.

"They didn't even have the decency to introduce themselves. You had to do it."

"That alone told me how arrogant they could be. And honestly, I wasn't lying when I said I didn't care about their social status or what family they were from. But I needed to test them, I wanted to see who I was helping."

Harry smiled as he extended his hand to Albus: "How much would you be willing to offer for your daughter's life?... That was the indirect question I asked them and the demonstration of what they would be willing to do for Astoria Greengrass."

"And if I can get benefits from helping someone, so much the better."

Albus sighed before shaking his head: "You would have made a very good Slytherin."

"The hat wanted me there, I just asked for Gryffindor."

Albus looked at Harry surprised by the revelation and watched as he left the private room.

"A snake hiding among a pack of lions, huh?" Albus muttered in amusement before walking out of the room.

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