"Wow Harry! What is this place?" Neville asked as Harry led him into the Room of Requirement later that day. It was currently set up to have one half resemble the Gryffindor common room and the other half to be a large training area. Hermione and Daphne were in the training area casting spells at a moving target when the two boys walked in. They both stopped what they were doing and waved as Harry led Neville over to the common room to explain what was going on.
"Neville, I'd like you to start training with us." Harry said. "We think this is going to be important soon."
"Why?" Neville asked curiously. He had noticed that Harry had been doing much better in school this year, although he just assumed it was because he was studying so hard for the Triwizard Tournament. The idea that it was for something else and that he would be a part of it had never crossed his mind.
"Sit down and I'll explain. It's a bit of a long story." Harry replied as he motioned for Neville to take a seat. For the next hour Harry told Neville everything that he thought the other boy needed to know. Harry began with retelling his adventures of the previous years. Neville knew most of what had happened and could guess at much of what he didn't know, but it was still nice to hear the story from the source. Harry then began to explain the events of this year and their suspicions that Voldemort would one day return and restart the war that everyone thought had ended so long ago.
"Blimey, Harry. You really think that's going to happen?" Neville asked.
"Yeah, I do. I wish I could say no but Voldemort's never going to stop trying to get his body back." Harry answered.
"I suppose not. I don't think I'll be much help to you though. You three have been doing this for months, plus I'm not that good to begin with." Neville said sadly.
"Quit putting yourself down, Neville." Harry commanded. "We're all going to help you and I'm sure you will be catching up to us in no time. You're my friend Neville, and I want to make sure that if something bad does happen you can defend yourself." Neville looked up at Harry in surprise. Harry not only considered him a friend but had confidence that he could learn and get stronger. He couldn't remember anyone ever thinking he would be a good wizard, not even his grandmother with her constant comparisons to his father.
"OK, Harry. I'll do my best." Neville said sincerely. Harry grinned and jumped up from his seat to head over to the training area as Neville rushed to follow. Daphne and Hermione had already stopped practicing and were talking when the other two approached them.
"Neville's in!" Harry announced excitedly. Hermione smiled while Daphne rolled her eyes at Harry's enthusiasm.
The group spent most of the rest of the night trying to help Neville learn the things they had already mastered. He was eager to learn but his magical abilities seemed very uneven to the others. Even when attempting to cast the same spell multiple times occasionally the spell would not work at all. Upon closer inspection Harry noticed that there was nothing wrong with his incantations or wand movements so it must be something else holding him back, although he had no idea what that was. Hermione and Daphne seemed to notice the same thing Harry did but neither of them could offer an explanation. Neville soon grew tired from the constant spell casting and decided to go to bed.
"I'll be back next time. I promise." Neville said as he walked out the door to head towards the Gryffindor dorms. Hermione and Daphne were also ready to stop but Harry knew he had to keep pushing himself to reach the point of magical exhaustion. He was about to start casting some of the more draining spells he knew when Hermione stopped him.
"Harry, how would you like to try some more conjuration tonight?" she asked. "You did agree to be my assistant after all."
"Sounds fun." Harry answered with a laugh. "What do you want me to do?"
"You're still wearing that belt that Dumbledore gave you, right?" she asked. When Harry nodded in affirmative she smiled and continue. "Excellent! I researched what it was and what it can do and figured out I can use it to determine how much effort it takes for you to cast a spell. With that I can find which things are harder to conjure than others. Are you following me?"
"I guess so." Harry answered uncertainly. He looked towards Daphne for reassurance but she just shrugged indicating she wasn't sure what Hermione wanted the information for either.
"Great." Hermione said. "We'll start with things you are sure to recognize…"
Harry quickly realized that Hermione had come prepared. She started off having him conjure things she knew would be difficult for him such as silver, bronze, and copper. The next few things she suggested were vastly less difficult for him and included a sheet of tin foil, a lump of coal, salt, sand, iron, and steel. After each item had been conjured Hermione would take measurements to determine how much power had been necessary and write the results on a roll of parchment that was growing longer and longer.
"Very interesting." Hermione said as she wrote down another measurement. "How about mercury next? It's that liquid they put in thermometers in case you weren't sure."
"Alright." Harry answered and looked back at the table he had been conjuring things on. A bowl had magically appeared, thanks to the Room of Requirement, and Harry pointed his wand at it while he prepared to cast the spell. When he spoke the incantation he was surprised to find that this conjuration was much more difficult than the others had been, although not as hard as some others such as copper and silver. "Strange. That was pretty hard to do."
"Was it?" Hermione asked excitedly. The thought of learning something new had taken hold of her and refused to let go. For a moment she looked confused at the results, but then an idea seemed to strike her. "Harry, can you try platinum next? If you need an example I am wearing my grandmother's necklace and it has a platinum charm on it." Harry nodded and studied the necklace for a moment before casting the spell again to similar results.
"That was about as hard as the mercury. I wonder why…" Harry said. Hermione meanwhile was practically jumping up and down in excitement as she started pulling books from her bag. Eventually she brought out a muggle textbook titled "Chemistry" and flipped it open to the very back where a large table was found marked 'Periodic Table of the Elements'.
"This is it, Harry! I was right, Chemistry is the key. It always has been." Hermione said.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked as he looked over to Daphne who looked equally confused. She knew all about magic, but the muggle sciences were a mystery to her.
"Wizards have always known that some things are harder to conjure than others, but they never knew why. Tell me, did you think it was harder to conjure bronze or copper?" Hermione asked.
"It was about the same I guess." Harry answered.
"Exactly! And that's because bronze is mostly made of copper but with some tin added to it, and you had no trouble conjuring tin. Look at the table Harry, all of the materials that are hard for you to conjure have been in this little group right here." she said as she pointed to the table in the back of her book. Harry looked and sure enough copper, silver, and gold were all in the same column. Platinum, gold, and mercury were also in the same row. Still, he didn't understand why Hermione was so excited.
"OK, so what's the big deal?" Harry asked.
"Harry, this is a major breakthrough!" Hermione insisted.
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