Chapter 152: The Underground Laboratory

The Black family laboratory had been built for secrecy, not safety.

Its stone walls contained old stains that no cleaning charm could lift. Cabinets bore labels in three kinds of handwriting, and the ventilation shaft ended behind a chained grate. Edward spent his first morning there without touching a single ingredient.

Remus Lupin walked the room with Burke's inspection list. He had agreed to supervise at Sirius's request, provided that he could stop any test without debate. Kreacher followed with a ledger of everything removed from storage.

"The exit opens inward," Remus said.

Edward examined the iron-bound door. A fallen shelf could trap anyone inside. They reversed the hinges, cleared a path to the stairs, and placed a manual bell beside the door. Kreacher tested it from every corner.

The cauldron flame went next. The old burner responded to magic and could flare if the caster lost concentration. They replaced it with a covered blue flame controlled by a physical valve. Sand, water, and a smothering blanket occupied separate marked shelves. None depended on a wand.

By evening, the room looked less impressive and far more useful.

Edward unlocked the Heart Prism only after Remus had read Burke's restrictions. The revised piece held one prepared barrier in a quartz sliver. Its external clay bead recognized one bearer, and crushing that bead disabled the trigger. It did not sense danger or choose where to place the shield.

Remus turned the leather pouch in his hands. "What are you trying to change?"

"The setting is too awkward to aim. I want a wrist mounting that keeps the protected arc visible."

"Not a stronger spell?"

"No."

"Not a second effect?"

"No."

"Then write that at the top of every page."

Edward did. The summer project would alter only the way the existing piece was held and aimed. Any change to the charm, crystal, release phrase, or recognition method required a new review.

Their first model contained no magic. Edward cut a dragonhide band and attached a wooden block the size of the pouch. When he raised his arm, the block struck the base of his thumb. When he bent his wrist, its edge caught his sleeve.

Remus threw a cloth ball at him without warning. Edward turned too late, and the ball hit his ear.

"Your eyes followed the mounting instead of the threat," Remus said.

Edward shortened the band and moved the block toward the outside of his forearm. The second model no longer impeded his hand, but its buckle faced inward and could not be opened while the other hand held a wand.

Kreacher proposed a pull-cord. Edward rejected the first knot because it could tighten under strain. Remus rejected the second because it dangled close to the recognition bead. They settled on a flat tab that released when pulled sideways.

For three days, they tested empty bands. Edward wore them while walking, climbing stairs, opening doors, falling onto padded mats, and crawling beneath a low frame. They soaked the leather, chilled it, covered it in mud, and tugged it with a hooked pole.

One band twisted around his arm when wet. Another released during a fall. A third stayed attached so firmly that Remus had to cut it off.

Each failure entered the register.

Only the seventh band kept the crystal position visible without trapping Edward's hand. A white stitch along the edge showed the direction of the barrier. The pouch remained below the wrist, where a broken crystal would fall away from the face. The recognition bead sat beneath a leather flap that had to be raised deliberately.

"Now test it without the prism," Remus said.

Kreacher placed a lump of chalk in the pouch. Edward practised touching the false bead and speaking the phrase while Remus sent soft projectiles from different directions. Most struck him. He learned to move first, find cover second, and use the mounting only when he had time to aim.

That lesson pleased Remus more than the object.

"A shield is not permission to stand still," he said. "Especially a shield that lasts less than two seconds."

The first magical trial took place behind the double wards specified by Burke. Edward attached the real prism, explained his consent before Remus and Kreacher, and raised his arm toward a wooden figure.

"Protego Brevis."

The barrier appeared along the white stitch. Remus's practice bolt struck it and dispersed. Edward moved behind the stone partition before the shield vanished.

They waited, examined the crystal, and found no heat or visible damage. The second test failed because Edward's sleeve covered part of the recognition bead. Nothing happened. He wrote the failure without altering his cuff and tried again only after Remus approved.

A cutaway sleeve solved that obstruction but exposed the clay bead to impact. Edward added a shallow leather rim around it. The rim protected the bead without preventing him from crushing it.

At the end of the week, the mounting had produced six barriers and two inert failures. It had survived ordinary movement, moisture, and a padded fall. No one had tested it against a curse, and no one had worn it outside the laboratory.

Edward sent copies of the results to Burke, Professor Babbling, and Sirius. Burke replied first.

The mounting may proceed to supervised practice. The prism has not earned your confidence. Keep it that way.

Sirius's answer arrived the following evening through the mirror. He looked thinner, and a fresh scratch crossed his jaw.

"Before you ask, a thorn branch won," he said.

Edward showed him the wrist band from every angle. Sirius approved the visible direction mark and objected to the exposed pull-tab until Edward demonstrated that it could not be caught by a sleeve.

"How many are you making?" Sirius asked.

"One."

"Good answer."

"There may be a second empty band for comparison."

"Still a good answer."

The investigation had found another shelter deeper in the forest, this one surrounded by crude warning charms. Dumbledore had ordered the group not to enter until he could arrange more support. Sirius sounded frustrated but did not argue with the order.

"Bertha Jorkins was last seen travelling in the region," he added. "The Ministry calls her overdue from holiday. Dumbledore thinks her disappearance may be connected."

"Does the Ministry know about the shelters?"

"They know enough to search for her. They do not know enough to rush a troop into the forest and destroy every trace."

Edward recorded the name beside the reports from Albania. A missing Ministry employee changed the inquiry. It did not prove who had taken her.

After the mirror darkened, Remus found Edward studying a map.

"You are not going after Sirius," he said.

"I know."

"Say the rest."

"I am not trained for a search, the prism is not proven protection, and Kreacher's ability to Apparate does not make a bad entry safe."

Remus nodded. "Good. Now show me the cooling test."

Edward returned to the laboratory. The next question concerned the mounting's behaviour near ordinary fire, not the path into Albania.

For once, he kept his attention on the danger actually in front of him, documented it, and stopped when the agreed session ended.

Remus closed the room, checked the flame valve, and signed the daily ledger. The procedure made stopping visible as part of the work rather than an absence of progress.