Wands and Warframes

Unexpected Developments

Unexpected Developments

"Master, did you hear?"

"You'll need to be more specific Quirrell."

"The armour is a full body prosthetic."

"We knew this already."

"Master, what if it's more like a possession?"

"I see, yes, that would indeed allow us to combat them if needed. How are you feeling now?"

Quirrell grins wildly, "I'm sorry I doubted you Master. That ritual..."

"Indeed. Come, we have a charms professor to get drunk, and how are your contacts coming along with the dragon egg?"

"The egg is on the way from Romania now, it should be here in March."

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It's halfway through February when Neville comes hopping in through the portrait. Blood splattered lightly all over his face and robes. Trotting behind him comes a satisfied looking Whisper. As laughter sounds around the common room, Hermione glances up and casts the universal counter before looking back at her work.

A second later she looks up again, "Neville, are you alright?"

Neville gives a horrified grin, "I am now, thanks for releasing me. And Whisper, you are such a good kitty."

One of the Weasley twins shouts, "What happened?"

Neville laughs, "Draco happened. He caught me outside the Library, said that he needed someone to practice on. Whisper took offence to him attacking me. Sliced his wand to ribbons, and left some deep scratches on his face and arms."

The other Weasley throws him a chocolate frog, "Here, you deserve that. What happened to the timid little thing that started in September?"

Neville scoops up Whisper, who starts to lick his face clean, "Whisper happened. It's easier to be brave when he's always around. Not to mention that he won't let me mope either."

Hermione shakes her head before looking up again, "Neville, have you done the familiar bond ritual with Whisper yet?"

Neville glances at the chocolate frog card while he thinks, before chucking it on the table between Ron and Dean. Swallowing the head of the frog while Whisper successfully steals one of the legs and runs off, he finally responds, "Um, no? I can't say I've ever heard of it."

"Oh, well it's in Uncommon Summoning as an example of a ritual that's taught to all children in their first year of education. See, right here..." Hermione spins one of the panels she's been reading from, before remembering that it's literally only Harry and her that can see those panels in this room.

As the lights on her Titania turn rosy, Hermione pulls over a sheet of parchment and an oversized quill, "Um, I'll just copy it out for you. Just remember to actually flick through the book in the library, at least chapter 1 where the ritual is."

As she's writing, Angela Spinnet, one of the chasers for the Quidditch team, sits down next to her, "What does the ritual do?"

"Huh? Oh, it bonds their spirit to your soul so that they will age with you rather than at their natural rate. There's apparently other rituals you can do after that so that you can share senses, or send spells through your connection to them. But they're in another book I haven't found yet. Given that I've scanned 89% of the library, excluding the restricted section, it's quite possible it's not in the student accessible parts of the library. Then again, as this book is written in Middle Scottish Gaelic, it could also be that it no longer exists."