"I know." Hermione said proudly. "I had hoped it would force the wizarding world to reconsider their opinions on muggleborns as well. You know what this means though, don't you Harry?"
"What?" he asked uncertainly. He could tell when his friend was up to something, and she definitely was now.
"I don't have to wait to start experimenting! Congratulations Harry, you've just volunteered to be my research assistant." Hermione looked as excited as a little kid at Christmas time and Harry knew he would have no choice but to offer her his assisstance. She would never leave him alone if he didn't.
"Fine." Harry grumbled, "I will help, but you are going to have to remember that we can't spend every hour of the day working on this. I know how obsessed you get."
"I do not get obsessed!" Hermione said defensively, "I just think that academics and research are more important than you do." Harry shrugged at her response, knowing full well that no one could ever change Hermione's study habits. He wondered how much time she would be wanting to spend on this new project and hoped that since she didn't think she would be able to start it for another few years she wouldn't have too much thought out yet. Hermione began tapping her foot anxiously, a sign that Harry knew meant she was eager to get out of the infirmary and start working. Harry could not help but laugh at his friend's behavior even when his laughter was met with her annoyed glare. Their silent argument was interrupted when Harry noticed Daphne walking in to the room.
"Daphne!" he called as she walked towards him. Harry jumped up from the hospital bed he had been sitting on to give his girlfriend a kiss before leading her back over to where he had been talking with Hermione.
"Are you ok?" Daphne asked, the concern clearly evident in her voice.
"I'm fine, just waiting for Dumbledore." Harry answered.
"I do not believe you will have to wait for much longer." a voice called from the infirmary's entrance. The three teens turned to see Professor Dumbledore smiling back at them. "I hope you had a pleasant stay, Harry. I believe you have been one of Madam Pomfrey's more frequent guests."
"No problems, Professor. Although I would like to get out of here as soon as possible." Harry answered.
"An understandable goal." Dumbledore said with a nod. "I have some results from our observation last night, and to be honest I have never seen anything like it. First off let me ease any fears you may have had and assure you that there appears to be no lasting damage done to either your body or your magic from your brief episode of magical exhaustion."
"So I can keep training?" Harry asked eagerly.
"There does not seem to be any reason for you not to." Dumbledore admitted. "However I would ask you to wear the monitoring belt the next few times so we can perhaps gain a better understanding of what is happening. You see Harry you are now approximately one percent stronger than you were at this time yesterday, a result I was not expecting."
"One percent? That doesn't sound like much." Harry said.
"You're wrong, Harry." Daphne interrupted. "That shouldn't be possible."
"Ms Greengrass is correct, Harry." Dumbledore confirmed. "And there is reason to believe that you have been improving at a similar rate every time you have pushed yourself to the point of magical exhaustion. Think of it this way Harry, if you were to the rate of your improvement is constant that would mean you could double your magical power in just over three months. In a year you could nearly quadruple it. However I wish to further observe you to determine if the gains in strength you are receiving are in fact constant or if they are slowing down."
"You forgot to mention the third possibility, Professor." Hermione said softly. "The increases could be accelerating."
"But why is this happening?" Harry asked.
"I have wondered that myself for a long time now." Dumbledore answered. "I have come to the conclusion that it is an unexpected result of what happened to you the night Voldemort tried to kill you. Previously I told you that I believed it was your mother's love that protected you from Voldemort's killing curse, and I still believe that. However, simply loving another is not enough to grant that kind of protection. Your mother was a very talented which with a thirst for knowledge that would even rival Ms Granger's, and it is my belief that she either found or created a ritual that would use her sacrifice to protect you."
"So you don't really know what she did." Harry said
"No, sadly I do not. There is therefore no way to know what side effects this ritual may have had." Dumbledore responded. "That is not the end of it however. I suspect that Voldemort was attempting to use your death as a part of a very dark ritual."
"Which ritual?" Daphne asked. The Greengrasses had an extensive library full information, including some on dark rituals, and even if she had not heard of the ritual she thought there was a good chance she could find it there.
"Perhaps when you are older I will explain more fully." Dumbledore answered. His response did not please any of the people listening to him. "What Voldemort was not expecting was for his killing curse to be reflected back at him, although since your are the only known person to survive it perhaps we should not be surprised at his mistake. There is also no way to know what the effects of surviving the killing curse are. Finally, you were used in one more ritual that night."
"What?" Harry asked in surprise. "Who did it?"
"I did, Harry." Dumbledore replied. "In order to ensure your safety I created strong protections around your Aunt's home using Lily's sacrifice as their base. It was a confusing time and I admit I was not certain my plan would work, but the wards now surrounding your home are stronger than any I could have ever created on my own. However I must tell you that it is possible my actions could have had unintended consequences."
"So what do you think did it?" Hermione asked as she tried to piece together the puzzle.
"It could have been any one of them, or all of them working together perhaps. What I can say is that it was a series of events that completely unique and I do not expect anyone to ever be able to replicate." Dumbledore said. "I must ask you to keep this information to yourselves, I would not want it to get back to Voldemort lest he try to recreate it. I had considered only telling Harry, however I knew it would quickly be told to the two of you and thought I would save him the trouble of repeating it."
"What now, Professor?" Harry asked. Dumbledore's explanation had left him confused and worried about what had been done to him and what it meant for the future.
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