Harry Potter: The Mage's Path Chapter 36

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the intellectual property associated with Harry Potter.

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. Harry gets the ability to give other people some skills, and who are the new people who have appeared in Hogsmeade?

Harry followed Dumbledore down the hospital corridor towards his godfather's room. Sirius was located on the third floor, where the Poisoning Department was located. Apparently, the prisoner that attacked Sirius had a knife on him, and the blade was coated in poison. Sirius avoided the worst of it, but his arm was still nicked by the blade. The poison was so potent that the Healers had to put him into a self-induced coma while they treated the symptoms.

"It's just ahead of us, Harry," Dumbledore said.

It was clear which room his godfather was in. There were two Aurors standing guard at the door, one of them being Kingsley Shacklebolt. Opposite them were Andromeda and her daughter. Andromeda was pacing up and down the corridor while Tonks was slumped in a chair, sleeping with her head resting against her shoulder.

"Harry," Andromeda rushed forward to give him a hug as soon as she spotted him. "Can you believe what happened to Sirius? It makes me so angry that something like this could happen."

"I know," Harry said, returning the woman's hug. "I won't let whoever did this get away with it. They will pay dearly for what they have done."

"Please, I think we both have a good idea who is responsible," Andromeda snorted. "Lucius Malfoy thinks his son will inherit the Black Lordship if Sirius dies, or is never acquitted of his supposed crimes."

"Is that not the case?" Harry asked.

Andromeda looked around before leaning in and whispering. "There is someone else with a stronger claim, but I cannot say any more than that."

"Does Sirius have an illegitimate child out there somewhere?" Harry joked.

Andromeda froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, before shaking her head in denial. "Of course not."

He had only said it in jest, but it looked like he had accidentally stumbled upon a secret. However, now was not the time to discuss it. If Sirius had a child out there, he could deal with it once he was free.

"Is there a way that we can keep Sirius from returning to Azkaban?"

Andromeda shook her head in frustration. "Ted is at the Ministry, trying to push through a petition to have Sirius moved to the DMLE cells temporarily until the one responsible for casting the Imperius Curse is found. However, I don't like his chances of succeeding."

"How long will Sirius be in the hospital for?"

"At least another week," Andromeda said. "I wanted to be his Healer, but there is a conflict of interest. In any case, I know the Healer assigned to him, and she informed me of his prognosis. He is out of danger, but it will take some time for him to recover from the poisoning. It caused considerable damage to his internal organs."

Harry was relieved he was out of danger. Dumbledore, who had been speaking to Kingsley, turned to Harry with a gentle smile.

"I convinced him to allow you in the room to see Sirius," he said. "But you only have five minutes. You have to surrender your wand to him as well."

Harry nodded and retrieved his wand and handed it to Kingsley. It wasn't like he didn't have other methods to protect himself if he needed to. He opened the door and stepped into the room. It looked like an ordinary recovery room in a normal hospital, except there wasn't any of the usual medical equipment. The bed he was lying on looked strange, however, as it had a number of runes inscribed onto its base. He wondered what its function was supposed to be. Perhaps it was the magical version of something that monitored the health of the patient.

Sirius was lying on the bed, completely still, with his eyes closed. Compared to when he had seen him last in Azkaban, there was even more frailty in him, and his face was pale and devoid of colour. After dragging a chair over to the bed, Harry sat down and watched him breathe slowly in and out with a pensive expression.

Sirius was expected to recover within a week and would be required to return to Azkaban. There wasn't much time to come up with a plan to keep him safe. He was prepared to break Sirius out of prison and secure him a safe place to stay if need be. The Ministry could go hang for all he cared.

Harry tried to observe his godfather's parameters, but even in this state, his level was still beyond his ability to perceive. He was beginning to think that it didn't matter what level his Observation skill was, or his own level for that matter; there were some powerful witches and wizards with an innate defence against being read. Maybe having Occulumency shields was a factor. He might test the theory later.

A thought occurred to him. Would a potion help his godfather recover his health in this situation, or would it only be a band-aid to slow down the poison from leeching his health? In any case, he wouldn't give it to him anyway. Since Sirius was out of danger, he wasn't going to try and hasten his recovery. This is because it meant his godfather would go back to Azkaban sooner.

The door opened and Kingsley signalled to him that his time was up. Harry stood up, saying goodbye to his godfather and leaving the room. Ted Tonks had arrived and was talking to Dumbledore and his wife.

"Harry, how are you doing?" Ted asked.

"I'm okay. Sirius is not in life-threatening danger anymore, which is a load off my mind."

"That's good," Ted said. "I was just informing the others that my petition to have Sirius relocated was denied."

"That's no surprise," Harry said.

"It seems that there is a much bigger conspiracy at play than I had realised," Ted said seriously. "Umbridge shot down my petition before I could even get started."

"Maybe I should have taken care of the Toad while I had the chance," Harry muttered to himself.

"Harry, while I'm here," Ted said. "I wanted to update you on how I am progressing on getting ownership of your island back."

"Good news, I hope?"

"They are actually talking about returning ownership to you," Ted frowned. "But they are delaying the matter and won’t hand it over for a few months at least. It's almost as if something will happen within that time frame and they expect to find what they need. There must be a compelling reason why they risk offence by holding onto ownership of the island."

"Really?" Harry pursed his lips. He would need to talk to Remus so he could get the location of the island and check it out for himself at some point. Since claiming ownership of his island was illegal, he wouldn't get into any trouble if he had to defend himself from anyone trespassing on his island. He wouldn't mind running off a few Ministry stooges.

Tonks woke up and looked around sleepily before noticing Harry standing there. "Hey, why didn't you wake me up when you arrived?"

"You looked like you needed rest," Harry shrugged.

"It's all Moody's fault," Tonks grumbled. "He is relentless. It is obvious that he must derive some sick pleasure from grinding his students into the dust. Why did I accept his apprenticeship again?"

"Because he knows his stuff," Harry sat down next to her. "You don't catch that many dark wizards and survive that long without the skills to back it up."

"Yeah, all he had to do was sacrifice a few body parts," Tonks retorted. "I am not doing the same."

"You're a Metamorphagus," Harry smirked. "You have the ability to hide missing body parts easily enough."

"No thanks," Tonks shuddered.

"We better get going, Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry said goodbye to the Tonks and left the hospital. He had a week to decide what to do about Sirius. In the meantime, he was going to grind two of his classes to level thirty, even if he had to spend forty hours every day in the dungeon.

<====({owo})====>

25th August

Harry spent the last few days in the Empty Dungeon, grinding his two classes, but he had to concede that he needed a break. There was a lot of mental fatigue built up from repeatedly casting spells. Not even the system could conveniently heal it after a night’s rest when it had accumulated over several days, so he gave himself a day off to relax. He couldn't argue with the results so far, but still needed a few days to reach his goal.

As he had the day to do as he wished, he decided to get a few things done that he had been meaning to do but had been putting off.. He looked at his Status page and the thirty-two AP sitting there unused. There was one attribute he was interested in increasing, and that was Intelligence. It affected the performance of his Alteration and Explosion Mage classes. It wasn't until he levelled up the latter in the past few days that he understood why Intelligence was one of its primary attributes.

Although he got bonus Intelligence by simply equipping the classes, it did not count towards gaining the perk that was available at fifty. Furthermore, it didn't reward him with any skill points, as he only got them when he increased the attribute permanently through his Job.

Before he took the plunge and spent twenty-five points to increase his Intelligence, Harry decided to do a small test to see how much it would improve his capabilities. The attribute primarily increased his memory capacity, and his ability to recall information.

Harry picked out two smaller books from his inventory to read, each of which had just thirty pages or so. He read the first book and wrote down everything he remembered from it. It was a modest attempt, and he managed to fill a couple of pages worth of notes before putting his pen down. It wasn't the best result, but his Intelligence was still low, so he wasn't expecting much.

Harry spent twenty-five AP and increased his Intelligence to fifty.The difference was not obvious immediately, which is why he wanted to compare it before and after increasing his Intelligence. Before checking out the new perk, he read the other book and took notes again. Compared to before, there was a noticeable difference. He filled four and a half pages of notes with information he remembered from the book. It had a tangible effect, and Harry was satisfied.

He opened his notification and checked out the new perk.

======

The player received 25 skill points!

The player has gained a new perk!

=====

Skill Sharing

Description: The player has the ability to pass a skill he has learnt onto someone else. This may be a close friend or one of his familiars. There is a limit of five skills per person, and he can only select one person to receive the benefit for every twenty-five points the player has in Intelligence. The recipient (with the exception of his familiars) is unaware of the skill, as it is more of a passive enhancement. But they can level the skill further the more they use it. The player will receive five skill points for every skill he passes on to someone else, but cannot relearn the skill.

• Number of beneficiaries available to inherit skills: 2

=====

It was an amazing perk. Immediately, Harry had an idea of how he could use it. His first thought was of Hermione and his familiars. All three would benefit greatly from the perk. However, his familiars already had a number of skills and spells, so it wasn't urgent for them to learn any more at the moment.

Hermione was already a brilliant individual in her own right without having access to Gaia's skills. Even so, if he could provide her with some that suit her interests, he was sure she would be even more amazing. Her favourite subject was Ancient Runes, and she showed a keen interest in wand-making. As it turned out, he had a skill he no longer needed and matched well with her interests.

It was through reading the book Isabelle gave him in France that he learned the Wandcraft skill. However, he discovered that his interests lay in combative magic, and didn't have the patience to learn more about the discipline. He knew Hermione would love to craft her own wands, and he had the perfect starting point.

Harry still had the blueprint for the practice wand. If he passed it on to Hermione, he was sure she could craft it if she worked hard at it. He was sure that there would be plenty of witches and wizards who would purchase one, in order to be able to practice spells during the summer holidays. Especially the mundane-borns. As long as they took care not to cast spells around those unaware of the magical world, he didn't see anything wrong with it.

The downside to this perk is that he lost the skill, and couldn't re-learn it again. But if he focused on learning skills tailored to the individuals he gave them to and skills he didn't need, it really wasn't an issue. All he had to worry about was making sure that the skills he gave to people were appropriate to their strengths and didn't send them down the wrong path. He didn't want to cripple them but empower them.

He was so excited about the perk that he decided to try it out immediately. Hermione was in the library again, seated at a table, surrounded by a stack of books. Her attention was so absorbed in reading that she didn't even know he approached her.

"What are you reading?" Harry asked, and she jumped in surprise.

"Harry, don't sneak up on me like that," Hermione scolded him.

"I didn't sneak up on you," Harry replied, sitting down at the table. "A herd of Hippogriffs could have stampeded through here and you would not have noticed it."

"You're exaggerating," Hermione huffed.

"So, what are you reading?" Harry repeated his question. It was obvious that she was tired, as she had deep circles under her eyes. He was concerned that she was pushing herself too hard and he might be the one who had caused the problem. Was she that worried about deciphering the language for him?

"I'm doing research into how certain patterns or geometric shapes are repeated throughout nature. I think whoever created this language drew inspiration from it. If I can connect certain shapes to natural phenomena, I may be able to determine the key to this entire language."

"It doesn't sound like an actual language, but a secret code someone devised to keep their knowledge secret," Harry observed.

"Yes, that's what I thought too," Hermione nodded. "I've been researching cryptography to get ideas on how to unlock the code, but I haven't discovered anything yet."

"Where did you get all these books from?"

"I wrote to my parents," Hermione explained. "My mum dropped them off yesterday."

"Hermione," Harry sighed. "I didn't expect you to obsess so much over this and exhaust yourself. Slow down as it looks like you're running yourself ragged."

"I'm not obsessing over it," Hermione responded before releasing a huge yawn that contradicted her words.

Harry reached out and closed the book she had been reading, causing her to protest. "I want you to take the rest of the day off. There isn’t a deadline on solving it, so take your time.”

"But," Hermione cried, tears leaking from her eyes. "Are you still going to be my friend if I am no longer useful?"

Harry stared at her, surprised by her admission. He didn't know what the girl was thinking, that he would ever do such a thing. That his friendship with her was contingent upon her providing him with some benefit in return. The statement revealed some deep insecurities that he had not been aware of previously. Has she been taken advantage of by other kids in the past? Using her intelligence and desire to know all the answers to coerce her into helping them, only to abandon her later?

Harry reached out and gathered her in his arms and the girl stiffened, trying to push him away, embarrassed by what she said. "I don't want you to think I am your friend only because I want to use you for your knowledge. Our friendship isn't that superficial. Even if you couldn't solve the code, I wouldn't care as long as you were my friend. So get the notion out of your head that I will stop because you will disappoint me in some way."

Hermione sniffed, laying her head on his shoulder as she cried. If she was so overwhelmed by the thought of losing his friendship, then it does seem that she was even more tired than he thought. The girl fell asleep in his arms, leaving him in an awkward position sitting in his chair while holding her. Harry looked around and spotted an armchair in the corner. He half-carried, half-dragged her to it and tried to sit her down, but the girl protested sleepily and refused to let go of him.

Harry sighed and sat down with her, and she burrowed deeper into his arms. He may as well use this time to do what he came here to do and pass the skill onto her. Accessing his menu, he activated the perk, and he was asked to choose the skill and name the person receiving it.

======

You have chosen the Wandcraft skill to pass on to Hermione Granger. The process is irreversible, and the player will lose one of his choices he has to pass skills onto someone. Additionally, the player cannot re-learn the skill.

Proceed? Y/N

=====

When Harry chose yes, he received the message that Hermione had learned the skill. Since he had not taken a look at her status since he first met her, he decided now was the perfect time to see how it had changed.

=====

Hermione Granger

Age: 11

Title: Muggleborn Witch

Job: Aspiring Runes Master

Level: 12

Resources

HP: 280/280 Regen: 14 per hour

MP: 500/500 Regen:17 per hour

Attributes

AGI: 14

VIT: 14

MAG: 25

INT: 61

WIL: 17

PER: 11

CHA: 10

RES: 16

=====

Description:

Hermione Granger is a muggle-born witch who is very intelligent and loves to read and gain knowledge. She is isolated from her peers due to her bossiness and know-it-all attitude and only interacts with adults. Hence, she has developed an unhealthy obsession with rules and authority. Her friendship with Harry Potter, however, has mellowed her out, enabling her to be herself. She is interested in all school subjects but her favourite is Ancient Runes.

=====

Skills

Wandcraft | Active | Level: 3 | Next: 1% | Cost: 0 |

Description: Wandcraft is a complex and mysterious discipline that may take someone their entire life to grasp, and still not know everything. It is mainly due to the fact that there is a great deal of ancient mythology and botanical knowledge required, regarding the powers and natures of wood and other natural elements. The higher the skill level, the more complex and powerful wands the user can craft.

• Wand parameters increased by +3%

• Wand crafting speed +3%

• Wandcraft failure rate -3%

• Wandlore Acumen: Instinctual knowledge of how different materials interact.

=====

Harry noticed that her attributes had improved significantly since he last looked at her status page. His guess was that it was the result of her own diligence and some adjustments made after the update. She had high Intelligence, and he was certain that it would only increase further the more she learned. Unlike him, who had to rely on AP to increase it further, hers would increase naturally. He was sure it was the same for everyone else as well.

It would have been extremely useful for him if he had been able to observe someone like Dumbledore so that he would have a better idea of where the threshold of the attributes may be. Of course, for all he knew, the old wizard may not even be close to the strongest out there. There was Uriel for example, who seemed to have taken care of Voldemort with little effort. That was someone he didn't want to meet anytime soon.

Now that Hermione has the skill, it would be interesting to see how she develops over the coming months. He would have to search for some more skills that would be appropriate for her, but he wasn't in a hurry.

She would be given the blueprint for the wand, as well as the materials needed so she could begin practising. He wasn’t sure how complicated wand crafting was, and there may be other things she had to learn first. However, he was sure she was up to the challenge, as long as she didn’t obsess too much. Maybe he could get her to talk to Ollivander for some advice as well.

Harry managed to escape her grasp and left her sleeping on the chair. He opened his inventory and grabbed the sketch of the ritual that he copied from the memory he found at the cottage. He had been meaning to ask Professor Babbling about it for some time but held off because it wasn’t that urgent. Even if he was able to discover a method to travel directly to the fifth realm in the Abyss, he was likely still too weak to go there.

On further consideration, he decided to grab the Pensieve that was in his room and show the Professor the memory as well. It might help her with deciphering the ritual. He would have to get a magical vow from her to not tell anyone, and hopefully, she was intrigued enough to agree to it.

Another thing he did was head to the Headmaster’s office. He wanted to ask Dumbledore if Babbling could be trusted with his secret. Since he already had shown the memory to him, Dumbledore was not surprised by its existence. He was given the go-ahead and asked Harry to keep him informed of any developments.

Harry went in search of Professor Babbling. He knew that her quarters were located on the second floor, but she spent a lot of time in her new classroom, working on the new curriculum. All of the new classrooms were now located on the third floor, to make it easier for students to not get lost, especially for the new students, unfamiliar with the castle.

After knocking on the door, he heard the Professor call a welcome, so he entered the classroom carrying the Pensieve in his arms. Professor Babbling was seated at her desk in the corner of the room. The new classroom was a lot bigger than the old one, as it needed to accommodate all of the Ancient Runes students at once. It was split into two, with one side set up with desks, a chalkboard and bookshelves, where students could study the languages, similar to the old classroom. The other side was a warded area, where there were separate compartments so students could practice inscribing runes without endangering anyone else in the vicinity.

“Hello, Harry,” Babbling looked up from a parchment she was perusing as he approached her desk. “I didn’t think I would ever see you in my classroom.”

“It’s not like I am not interested in the subject,” Harry shrugged. “I just like Charms and Transfiguration better.”

“Yes, I had to listen to Professor Flitwick blather on about gaining an amazing apprentice,” Babbling grinned.

“Well, I’m sure Hermione would take on an apprenticeship with you in a heartbeat if you offered,” Harry said.

“I have been seriously considering it,” Babbling admitted. “My only concern was her age, but since Professor Flitwick doesn’t see it as a problem, then I shouldn’t worry about it either. The girl is far too brilliant to allow someone else to snatch her up.”

“She would love that.”

“What can I help you with? I could use a distraction,” Babbling said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “I like this new concept for the classroom, but the Headmaster didn’t give us much time to create our lessons. There are a lot more moving parts compared to the old one, so it’s taking some time to finish.”

“Well, I have a doozy of a distraction,” Harry replied. “It relates to the Abyss, but before I tell you, I am going to need a magical vow not to discuss anything that I share with you today.”

“You mentioned the Abyss first to tempt me so it would be harder to refuse,” Babbling said, looking intrigued. “I assume that it has something related to Ancient Runes, otherwise you would find someone else”

Harry merely nodded.

“Very well,” Babbling took out her wand and made the vow. A flash of light appeared, confirming that the vow had taken effect. “Now what is it you want to show me?”

Harry placed the Pensieve on the desk. The memory he wanted her to see was still stored inside, so he didn’t have to do anything else.

“You need to watch this memory first to get some context,” Harry said.

Babbling placed her head into the Pensieve and Harry waited as she watched it. Her head emerged a few minutes later, looking shaken by what she had seen.

“There was so much going on there, that I don’t know where to start,” Babbling took a breath. “Your mother is one amazing woman, Harry. She stood there against that man, knowing she was outclassed, yet she didn’t hesitate to protect her child.”

“She is incredible,” Harry agreed.

“I assume you wanted my help with the ritual that was drawn?”

“Specifically, the ritual after that I changed it somehow and caused the gate to appear. Have you ever seen someone be able to change a ritual spontaneously like that before?”

“No, it shouldn’t be possible,” Babbling shook her head, looking perplexed. “I watched that specific point several times and I am still confused how you achieved it.”

Harry handed her a sketch of the ritual, and she looked it over. “Can this be replicated?”

“This is very complex,” Babbling murmured. “Still, at first glance, it shouldn’t have done anything, except maybe explode from being an incomplete ritual. The only thing that I can think of is that you added something in the process that caused it to work.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know about elements and properties that magic has, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Some rituals can only be activated under certain conditions, and one of those is a specific type of magic. However, the chances of it working are astronomically low. You were only a baby.”

“Then it’s no good?” Harry asked.

“Give me some time to study it in further detail,” Babbling said. “I can’t say for sure what it is with such a brief examination, or else I wouldn’t be doing my job.”

“Okay,” Harry stood up. “Thanks, Professor. If there is anything I can help with in return for this favour, let me know.”

“Leaving it open-ended like that could be dangerous,” Babbling laughed.

<====({owo})====>

Harry retrieved the letter from the owl, and it flew out of the window again. He opened it to see that it was from Ted, informing him that he hadn’t made any leeway with his second petition to have his godfather relocated after his recovery.

His godfather would recover in a few more days, so he was running out of time. It looked like he would have to take things into his own hands and take Sirius out of the hospital. There were a few things that he needed to do before he took that step.

First, he would need to secure a place for his godfather to stay, where no one would find him. Out of the country may be the best bet, but he couldn’t use one of his properties because that would probably be the first place the Aurors would look.

He would need to plan it so no suspicion fell upon him, so he had to be seen by others when the escape took place. Maybe he could leave Sirius something in the hospital room that allowed the man to escape on his own. Then again, the Aurors would be watching him carefully, and Sirius may still be too weak to enact an escape.

Another thing he needed to do was ask Andromeda if Sirius really had a child out there, so he could ensure that they were safe. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lucius Malfoy made a move to secure his son as the Black Heir when Sirius escaped the hospital. If he finds out about the existence of the child, then he may go after them as well. The man didn’t strike him as someone who showed mercy to children either.

Now, how would he get his godfather out from under the Aurors’ noses?

<====({owo})====>

A peculiar pair of individuals stepped into the village of Hogsmeade, attracting attention immediately from the locals. The female wasn’t the main attraction, even though her tiny stature and pink hair were noticeable enough. It was the tall warrior standing next to them that drew the most looks. The man wore a white wolf skin over his head and brown fur around his waist. He did not wear anything on his torso, revealing his large muscles.

The female spoke up, and the way she talked revealed that she was far older than she appeared and that she was the leader of the two.

“Well Horupitia, we are close to our target’s location. We need to find a way into Hogwarts, but for now, we will investigate Hogsmeade first to see if we can find out anything.”

Horupitia looked at her silently, and it was only due to their close partnership that she was able to discern what he was asking without him saying anything.

“Our target is a kid named Harry Potter,” she informed him. “He is an eleven-year-old boy that is staying on the school grounds at the moment.”

Horupitia looked at her sceptically, as if he doubted that she would accept any contract to kill a boy.

“This is not an assassination mission,” she said with exasperation. “Our job is to protect the boy. Our client is paying a hefty sum to keep him safe, and the job is long-term. It is why I accepted it, since we need a break, and staying in one place for a while sounds like heaven.”

“That is a relief,” a voice spoke, and they turned as an average-looking man approached them.

“Who are you?” The woman squinted at him. “You look familiar.”

John ignored her question, looking at the pair with a wary expression. While he was no slouch in the power department, he doubted he could defeat the two of them together. Hell, the woman could take him on by herself.

“Someone has hired the Witch of Slaughter to protect the boy?” John asked. “Who is your client?”

“None of your business. Well, you have me at a loss,” the woman giggled. “The name is Lolikiano Mistrim, but it is true that I am also called the Witch of Slaughter.”

“We have a lot to talk about,” John said seriously, looking around. “But let’s speak somewhere else.”

“Lead the way,” Lolikiano replied.

John led them to a secluded location so they could have a discussion. Who was it that had the money and connections to hire one of the most infamous mercenaries in the entire Abyss? Someone was trying to protect the boy, but who?

So, what do you think? Next chapter, Harry rescues his godfather and the Overseer of Gringotts gets back to him about his reward. I will show the results of his grinding at the end of the next chapter when the second part of the time skip is over. It is the last grinding session for a while, as the start of the school semester, is just around the corner.

Thanks for the support, everyone.

Shoutout to my Pro and Hardcore Gamers for the extra support.