29. Chapter 29

I want to thank everyone for their support and reviews. I hope you'll enjoy this next chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Since I have to go to a staff party, I won't be on the discord for a few hours but I can sneakily update this at work. (Slytherin genes!)

Chapter 29

After classes the next day, Harry was hurriedly making his way towards the dungeons, eager to give the Umbral Locum another go as well as use the alchemical circle in the progress. Books and scrolls flung chaotically in his bag, he walked slightly off-balance as his load hung from his shoulder. That's why, when he rounded a corner only to find someone standing behind its bend, there was little else he could do but crash into this person.

They were a blur of blonde and green and Harry barely recognised Luna as they both came crashing to the ground.

"Luna!" Harry exclaimed as he saw the girl blink at him in confusion. She looked terrible. A large portion of her face and hair were covered in some sort of green slime that was slowly dripping down her body. She tried wiping it out of her eyes but didn't seem to succeed. Every time she tried to remove the goo, it seemed to duplicate in quantity.

Harry got to his feet and graciously offered Luna his hand, which she took.

"Thank you, Harry," she said, seemingly smiling at him but Harry couldn't be sure at this point.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"I-" Luna stammered before shaking her head and trying again. "Some very lonely people thought they might feel better if they pranked me," she said.

Harry growled as he felt a surge of anger. "That doesn't –" He was about to fly off the handle – he knew – but practising his Occlumency, he kept it at bay and calmed himself. Right now, Luna needed him.

"Come with me," he said. He was still holding her hand and gently pulled her with him as they travelled deeper into the dungeons.

"I will be alright, Harry," Luna told him happily, "There's no need to worry about me."

Harry felt a pang of hurt in his chest when he recognised the underlying tone of sadness in Luna's voice. He recognised it from when he had used the same tone of voice himself, never quite able to fully disguise his hurt.

"You will be alright," Harry agreed with her, "But for now, you will come with me."

Luna didn't say anything after that and agreeably followed Harry into the potions lab. As usual, no one else was there. No one but Hedwig who was sleeping soundly with her head tucked under her wing.

Harry lowered Luna gently into a chair and filled a basin with some water which he spelled warm. He grabbed a clean cloth and a stool, setting it right in front of Luna. She stared at him with her blue-grey eyes and Harry looked back at her as he felt a pang of sorrow for the kind-hearted Ravenclaw. He dipped the cloth into the water and very gently began removing the slime from her cheek, being careful not to aggravate her eyes as he did so.

"Who did this?" he asked gently, dipping the cloth into the water once more and wiping at her forehead. With his other hand, he gently brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face so they would not stick to the slime.

"Just some students in my house," Luna said easily, "They really don't mean to be cruel. I'm sure they thought they were just playing a prank on me."

Harry regarded her for a moment and sighed, now slowly removing the slime from her hair as best he could. "Someone from your own house did this," he said, not even bothering to formulate it as a question. "That's not right."

"No," Luna agreed, "But things rarely are."

"Wait here," Harry said, "Some of it got in your eyes. Let me get something for that."

He walked over to the potions cabinet to get some murtlap essence. He did his best to remain calm and not explode in righteous fury because that was not what Luna needed right now. He knew very well what it was like to be bullied and – even if he rarely got it when he was younger – what he wanted most after such an encounter was just for someone to care. He could be that someone for Luna right now.

He grabbed the murtlap essence and sat back on the stool. Luna was looking at her hands and for a moment, Harry thought her eyes were devoid of their usual dreaminess.

"They tell me I'm a freak," Luna said softly. Harry almost missed it. But those words reignited white-hot anger within him in a flash so sudden that he hadn't the time to control himself before several vials nearby scattered to pieces. Hedwig screeched as they did and Luna flinched slightly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, grabbing her hand, "I didn't mean to frighten you. It's just that – I used to –"

"You remember what it's like," Luna finished for him, smiling gently as her eyes met his once more. "It's quite alright, Harry. You don't frighten me. You never could."

"You're not a freak," Harry told her very sternly, "Don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise."

"It's true that I'm not exactly average," Luna told him gently.

Harry huffed. "Average?" he said, "Average is for those who are too afraid to dream. Average is for the cowards who relish in bullying harmless girls."

He looked at her fondly, willing her to believe him. "No, you are not average," he said, "You are amazing. You are exceptional! You are one of the brightest, most promising witches in here. You are special to a lot of people, including me."

Luna smiled at him genuinely. With his thumb wrapped in a piece of the cloth, Harry wiped away a green smudge on Luna's lips, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Keep your eyes open for a moment," Harry told her as he opened the vial of murtlap essence. "Tilt your head back a bit for me."

She did as he told her, keeping her eyes open as much as he could. Carefully, he allowed a few drops of the essence to fall into her eyes, effectively expulsing any of the green slime that had contaminated them.

"There," Harry said, smiling gently, "Your eyes are their beautiful selves again."

Luna giggled. It made Harry's heart soar to hear it.

"Luna," he said, "Tell me who did this."

Luna smiled kindly. "Why?" she asked, "So you can hurt them? Report them?"

"Well, yes!" Harry exclaimed, "They can't keep doing this to you."

"They only do it because they're not happy," Luna said, "They want others to suffer because they suffer. I don't want to cause them more harm."

"But Luna," Harry protested weakly, "They hurt you."

"And you helped me," Luna told him appreciatively, "And that is truly all I can ask for. It made me exceedingly happy."

"Luna –"

"I will be alright," She gave his hand a light squeeze, "Just like you are."

Harry sighed, but handed her the vial of murtlap essence.

"Three drops per eye," he told her, "Once a day for another week."

"Thank you," Luna said, surprising Harry as she pulled him into an embrace, burying her head in his shoulder.

Almost automatically, Harry placed a soft hand on the back of Luna's hair in comfort, placing his chin on top of her head. Harry felt the need to linger but Luna finally withdrew.

"You know, I always did like the fairy tales about knights in shining armour. Take this as my favour to you, sir knight," And with that, she kissed him on the cheek, swirled around and left. Harry couldn't help but blush.

Harry found himself drawing the alchemical circle – or containment field – in the exact way that Dumbledore showed him. He paid special attention to the runes that were the basis of the circle and spent the better part of an hour to complete it. When he was nearly done, his knees were hurting from kneeling on the cold dungeon floor.

"What are you doing?" came Snape's curious question from the doorway.

With a grunt, Harry lifted himself from the floor, dusting his robes as he did. "It's a containment field," he said matter-of-factly.

"I know what a containment field is, Harry," Snape chided lightly, "What do you take me for? What I want to know is: why are you drawing it all over my laboratory floor?"

Harry smirked, "Should I answer your question or assume you know the answer already?"

"Mind your cheek," Snape said, smirking slightly, "And do tell."

"Professor Dumbledore suggested that the reason the potion didn't work is because of the castle's innate magic interfering with it," Harry explained.

"Hm," Snape said thoughtfully, "That's not a bad thought. He might be on to something. Did he teach you how to draw the circle?"

"He did," Harry replied.

"Absolutely fascinating," Snape said, "Well, go on then, get to it."

Harry regarded Snape carefully. "Are you just going to be standing there the entire time?"

"At a proper distance," Snape replied, "But yes. If you'll forgive me, my academic interests far outweigh your need for privacy at this moment."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, as long as you stay away from my circle."

Snape chuckled. "I know that," he said, "I may not be an alchemist but I am aware of its basic science."

Harry gathered all of the ingredients he needed, making absolutely sure that he left nothing behind, grabbed his stirrer and his theorem and finally completed the circle as he and his cauldron remained inside.

For a moment, a sheen seemed to reflect on a dome-shaped wall that emanated from the circle, but it had vanished as soon as it appeared.

"I think it worked," Harry told Snape but he got no response. When he looked at Snape, he could see the man smirk at him.

"What?" Harry asked. Snape rolled his eyes in obvious exasperation and shook his head at Harry.

"I don't – oh," Understanding dawned on Harry when he realized just how quiet it had gotten. He could not hear anything from beyond the circle and he could only assume that Snape – in turn – could not hear him. Well, at least they could still see each other.

Harry shrugged, flashed Snape a toothy grin and went to work. Another thing he noticed – which was quite extraordinary really – was that all of his ingredients seemed to exhibit an unearthly glow. Frowning, he picked up his thestral hooves, somewhat horrified by the deep purple fog-like aura that seemed to emanate from within them. At the same time, the marigold flowers exuded a pleasant orange in a way that Harry assumed scent would look like, were it visible.

When he looked at his own hands, he could see wisps of white emanate from his pores, licking his skin and reaching out to the other colourful variations.

"Innate magic," Harry whispered to himself. He could actually see the innate magic of every object. He glanced at Snape who seemed to be studying him with a calculating look. Harry raised his hands to the man but Snape simply arched an eyebrow. So perhaps, those outside of the circle couldn't see it. Very well. He would best get to work.

For now, he wouldn't change any basic ingredients from his recipe. Perhaps adding the containment circle would be enough to get the potion to work. He chopped his bay leaves; imbued his marigold flowers with innate magic and diced his figs. He grated his thestral hooves and watched the potion change colour as he stirred.

Being closed off from everything else gave Harry a sense of calm that helped his focus greatly. The further he got into the potion, the more obvious the colourful mists around him became. They seemed to be reaching out to him. To be calling him. Whenever he grabbed an ingredient, his own magic seemed to embrace that of the element, mingling for a moment before separating once more. It was nothing short of fascinating.

When Harry would throw in the items, their magic would be absorbed by the scalding hot liquid and become part of the swirling mix of what Harry was starting to think was a semi-sentient potion. Because indeed, the tendrils of magic that protruded from the potion seemed to be reaching out to Harry. They were calling him. Beckoning gently and soothingly. Harry thought that if he listened carefully, he could hear the chimes of little bells.

It was nearly ready. He was sure of it. The liquid was now white. It looked like milk even though the swirls of magic told Harry that the concoction was far more than that. Now all he needed to do was to personalize it.

As he would for the Polyjuice potion, he pulled out a few of his hairs and threw them into the cauldron. The magical tendrils absorbed the gift hungrily and in a manner of seconds, the hairs were gone. Devoured.

The milky white substance had taken on more of a reddish tint and was sizzling violently. A vast portion of the potion evaporated into thin air, leaving only enough substance to fill a single vial. Harry bottled it carefully and dared a peek at Snape who was watching him with visible anticipation. It would probably be best if he broke the containment circle now. Before he drank the potion at least. Snape would want to be able to intervene should something unexpected happen.

With his shoe, he erased part of the circle, breaking the field. Suddenly, he was flooded with sounds he had never realized were there. There were the almost inaudible grunts of stone settling throughout Hogwarts, the distant sounds of chatter and laughter, Snape's breathing and even the occasional sound of rats burrowing into the walls.

"Well, that was certainly… interesting," Snape said. His voice sounded ridiculously loud and Harry frowned as he got used to the everyday sounds of life again.

"What's wrong?" Snape asked.

"Everything's just so loud," Harry said, "Just give me a minute."

Snape nodded and walked over to peer into Harry's cauldron, his boots clicking on the floor. Harry was quickly getting used to the sounds once more and soon he was able to drown out most of the noise once more. When Snape looked inside the cauldron, there was a flash of disappointment in his eyes, probably due to the lack of leftover potion.

"I can always make more if it works," Harry said.

"I suppose," Snape replied uneasily, "Have you recovered?"

"I think so," Harry said uncertainly, "Did you see?"

"See what?"

"The magic that exuded from everything! I think it was innate magic."

Snape frowned. "I noticed no such thing. That's quite peculiar."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"I've never heard of the alchemical circle provoking such a response," Snape replied though Harry had the distinct impression that the Potions Master was talking to himself rather than to Harry. "Could it be because you unlocked your innate magic?"

"Perhaps Professor Dumbledore will know," Harry suggested, "For now, I think I should drink the potion. Can I?"

"Go ahead," Snape said, "But don't forget to thoroughly occlude your mind first."

"I remember," Harry huffed. As if he could forget all those horrid Occlumency lessons he had to endure to be allowed to brew this potion.

Snape gestured to him in a way that told him to carry on with it. So Harry occluded his mind and drank the potion.

Where potions usually had a horrid taste – courtesy of all the strange ingredients one would mix together – this one didn't taste too bad. Harry thought he recognised the taste of fruit, both sour and sweet except that it was off by a few days. Still not too bad in his books.

He vaguely thought to himself that next time he should be sitting down for this when he felt his legs get weaker and his body collapse. He was caught and gently lowered to the ground. He wanted to tell Snape thanks but he couldn't speak. He felt his mind beginning to wander and knew he shouldn't fight it. This is what he wanted. This is what the magic would provide for him.

He closed his eyes and allowed the Umbral Locum to do its work.

A surge of energy suddenly coursed through Harry and he opened his eyes once more. But what he saw was not the potions laboratory, nor was it Snape. There was nothing for him to recognise but he immediately became aware of the feeling of being surrounded. He looked around him as he stood in a greyish void. The stone floor beneath his feet was wet and there were puddles of water scattered here and there. Then, they came into focus.

Hundreds of sprits? Ghosts? Souls? Harry would need to think on it later but right now, hundreds of translucent being surrounded him. Some of them were standoffish, but others were smiling at him brightly. A few of them clapped him on the shoulder and Harry became vaguely aware of the odd sensation of ice, combined with the warmth of touch.

"Hello," Harry said doubtfully, "Who are you all?"

Some of the entities looked at each other while others gave him a mournful look. Harry noticed that one of them attempted to speak to him because his lips were moving, but no sound was conveyed. The academic within Harry came to the surface and he decided that at this point, yes-or-no questions would have to do.

"Are you all deceased?" Harry asked. A couple of the beings nodded.

"Are you ghosts?" A kindly older lady shook her head, smiling at him. Harry thought he recognised her eyes and felt a pang of regret for not knowing her.

"Did you come here against your will?" This elicited some shrugs. Some beings shook their heads while others nodded sharply.

"Who are you to me? Are you family?" Harry asked. Some of the beings nodded while others shook their heads. A mixed batch then.

"Is –" Harry's voice cracked a bit. "Is my mother here? My father?" The beings seemed to be looking around as if they were searching. Harry saw some of them communicate with each other and thought that their sound simply wasn't able to cross over to where he was. Then, the crowd parted and a familiar-looking man with untidy hair stepped forward, a huge grin on his face.

"Dad," Harry said softly. He didn't know why but he was overcome with nervousness. What did he do now? James Potter reached out and ruffled Harry's hair. The mix of cold and warm didn't deter Harry in the slightest. He relished in the touch that was his father's.

"I miss you," Harry said, his voice quivering. A translucent hand caressed his cheek, a thumb wiping away a stray tear Harry hadn't even realized was there. Then, he was overcome with a sense of panic.

"Dad," he said, "Can you see me? In my daily life, I mean." James smiled and nodded solemnly.

"Oh, I-" Harry realized that his dad would've seen the relationship between him and Snape. He would know that he called the man – who had been his enemy back in the day – father.

"I'm sorry, dad," Harry said, "But it's just that Severus has been there for me. He helped me to –"

James seemed pained to not be able to speak to Harry but he didn't hesitate. He took one more step forward and embraced his son. Cold and warmth alike spread throughout Harry's entire body as he returned the embrace. He was vaguely aware of a hand caressing his head.

"Does this mean, you're okay with it?" Harry asked gently. He could feel his father nodding against him. Harry took a shuddering breath, feeling quite exhausted. He pulled back and smiled at James.

"Is mum here as well?" Harry asked hopefully. James shrugged and looked at Harry with piercing eyes. His expression told Harry that he didn't know.

Harry chuckled wryly. "I suppose I'll need to tweak this potion some more," he said, "Maybe next time I'll be able to talk to you, or look for you specifically."

James put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled. Harry could only hope that his current expression meant that he was proud of his son. It certainly looked like it. He felt a pull at the back of his mind and sighed reluctantly.

"I have to go," he said, "But it was amazing seeing you here."

James nodded and grinned widely.

"Until next time," Harry said as he allowed himself to be pulled back and out of the spiritual plane he had just visited.

He opened his eyes to see Snape look at him. He didn't appear overly worried just yet but there was a hint of distress visible in the man's eyes.

"Did you pull me back?" Harry asked.

"No," Snape said, "It must've been the potion wearing off."

"How long did it last?" Harry asked. He noticed that he was sitting on the floor and got up, testing his legs for stability.

"Two hours," Snape supplied. He offered his arm in case Harry would need it.

"Sure didn't feel like it," Harry grumbled, gratefully accepting Snape's arm. "But I suppose that was to be expected."

"Did it work?" Snape asked. Harry did not miss the hope that exuded from the man's voice and felt a pang of sorrow for him. They walked over to a chair and Harry sat down in it.

"Yes but mostly no," Harry told him.

Snape quirked an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"I was there," Harry said, "In the other plane if I can call it that. And there were spirits there."

"Spirits?" Snape asked, "As in multiple?"

"Hundreds," Harry sighed, "I don't even know who most of them were but some of them were my family."

Snape waved his wand to summon some tea. "Was there anyone there you did recognise?" he asked, trying his best to make his voice sound neutral but not really succeeding.

"Only my dad," Harry said sullenly, "And I couldn't even talk to him. Not really. They could all hear me, but I couldn't hear them."

"I'm sorry," Snape said, "That must have been hard."

Harry smiled. "Yes, but it was also… nice."

Snape nodded and sipped his tea.

They sat there in silence for a very long time. Harry had finished his second cup of tea when he finally spoke up again. "I'll need to make some changes but I think I'm getting close. That circle really helped."

"I'm glad," Snape said.

"Dad?" Harry said.

"Hm?"

"You know that – no matter what – you're my father, right?"

Snape smiled and looked Harry in the eye. "Always."

Aaaah, the potion is starting to work if you'll believe it. Harry is so close now! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter by means of precious, precious reviews.