Chapter 29: The Needed Spell
Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 29: The Needed Spell
Three weeks passed after his friends found out the truth about the lake ghost.
The first snows of December turned into a permanent white blanket that covered the castle grounds.
The Black Lake froze completely, its surface becoming a sheet of grey glass that reflected the pale winter sun.
Students stopped walking near the shore because the wind sweeping across the ice was brutal and could cut through the thickest winter cloaks.
Harry had not seen the ghost again since that day...the day Pansy had seen her brother's spirit reach out to her, only to be dragged back into the dark water.
But the memory of that moment haunted him. The desperation in Alistair's eyes. The way he had faded, as if something had pulled him under.
Unfortunately, the investigation had stalled, yielding little to no results.
Diving into a frozen lake was not that simple, and on top of that, the holiday break had arrived.
Draco had returned to his family home for Christmas, promising to search his personal library for anything that could help.
Crabbe had gone home to his mother, who lived in a small cottage in the countryside.
And Pansy had to return to her half-blood uncle's house. A cramped cabin in an isolated magical community in the south of England, where she had no access to magical texts and spent most of her time alone in a tiny bedroom.
Harry had stayed at Hogwarts.
The Dursleys were on their business trip to Spain. Petunia had explained everything in a cheerful letter that arrived via Vesper.
They missed him, she said, and hoped he was eating well. Dudley had drawn a picture of the family standing in front of a palm tree. Harry had smiled when he saw it, then tucked the letter into his diary.
But he could not afford to be distracted. Before leaving, he had promised Pansy that he would continue to work on finding a way to get into the lake. Her brother needed help, and right now, Harry was the only one who could do something about it.
The first few days of the holidays passed quietly. Just as Draco had said before, there were very few students who remained in the castle. In fact, outside of breakfast, he would rarely see anyone walking around the castle.
Harry spent his mornings in the library, reading everything he could find about the Black Lake and spells meant for diving.
The books were frustratingly vague. Hogwarts: A History mentioned that the lake was "home to a variety of magical creatures, including Grindylows, merfolk, and a giant squid," but said nothing about its depths or any hidden caves.
Merpeople of Britain was more detailed but focused on the mer colony beneath the surface, not on the lake floor or any structures built by wizards.
He spent his afternoons walking the shore, wrapped in his warmest cloak, staring at the ice. The frozen surface was solid enough to walk on near the edges, but Harry knew better than to venture further.
The ice was thinner in the middle, and the water below was dark and deadly cold.
'There has to be a way,' he thought. There had to be some way to get down there without freezing to death.
On the third day of the holidays, Harry was sitting in the library, hunched over a book about underwater charm-work, when a voice spoke from behind him.
"You're here every day."
Harry looked up. Daphne Greengrass stood at the end of the table, a stack of books in her arms. She was wearing a deep green winter cloak, and her pale blonde hair was pulled back from her sharp, aristocratic face. Her amber eyes studied him with quiet curiosity.
"I could say the same about you," Harry said. "I've seen you here, always reading some thick book."
Daphne set her books down across from him and sat. "I don't have anywhere else to go. My mother is on a business trip." She paused, and Harry noticed a flicker in her eyes... it seemed like a mixture of discomfort and sadness. "My family is… busy."
Harry nodded. He could tell there was something more to it, but he did not want to push. He also recalled seeing the Greengrass name in that book he had read about the wizard war.
Daphne's family had been punished for trying to maintain a stance of neutrality, and if he remembered correctly, her father had been sent to Azkaban for it.
There was also a line about her sister: "The Greengrass daughters, Daphne and Astoria, were permitted to attend Hogwarts under close supervision."
So she had a younger sister, but that was all he knew so far. The two of them had been paired several times during Potions class, but they had only spoken about academic matters...not personal things.
Harry got the feeling that Daphne was someone who valued her privacy, so he never tried to push her into revealing anything too personal.
"Well… my family is also on a business trip. So I guess we are not too different," said Harry.
She glanced at the book before him. "What are you reading?"
Harry hesitated for a moment before answering. He wondered how much he could tell her. After all, he barely knew this girl and didn't know if she could be trusted.
"I'm looking for something," Harry said. "In the lake…"
Daphne's eyebrows rose. "The Black Lake? Like, inside the lake?"
"I know it sounds crazy, but… It's important."
"It sounds suicidal," Daphne corrected. "Not only is the lake freezing, but even with magic, you wouldn't last more than a few minutes before hypothermia set in. And that's if the Grindylows didn't get you first."
Harry sighed. "I've been searching for spells that could help with that."
Daphne studied him for a long moment. Her amber eyes were sharp. "You're not going to tell me what you're looking for, are you?"
"Sorry, I can't."
Daphne nodded slowly. "I understand. Secrets keep you safe. My mother taught me that, so I won't pry into it." She paused. "But if you're truly planning to go into the lake, you'll need more than a simple Bubble-Head Charm. You'll need a way to breathe underwater and a way to stay warm."
Harry leaned forward. "Do you know a spell like that?"
"I don't know how to use it myself, but I've seen it," Daphne said. "My mother was a healer. She used a full-body Bubble Charm for underwater rescues...it provided both air and thermal protection. But it's not the kind of spell you can learn from a textbook in the library. And it's even harder now, with the new laws. You would need special permission from the Ministry for any advanced spell that is not covered in the Hogwarts curriculum."
"Oh…" Harry was starting to lose hope. If the school library didn't have the answers he was looking for, he didn't know where else to find them.
"Sorry, that wasn't very helpful," Daphne said.
Harry shook his head. "It's fine. I'm sure that…" He suddenly froze.
An idea came to his mind. 'How did I not think of it before? The Potter Grimoire!'
"Potter?" Daphne glanced at him with curiosity. "You're making a strange face…"
Harry chuckled. "I think I found a solution."
She raised an eyebrow. "You did?"
"Yes. I need to go now." Harry grabbed the book he had been reading and stood up from the chair.
"Okay then. Good luck, Potter," said Daphne. "And be careful… I haven't checked, but I'm fairly sure that diving into the Black Lake goes against the school rules. So don't let anyone see you."
Harry nodded. "Thanks."
Daphne watched him place the book back on its shelf and rush out of the library. "He's truly peculiar…" she muttered.
<><><><><><><><><><>
That afternoon, Harry went to the Room of Requirement.
He paced the corridor three times, thinking: I need a place to practice magic. A place where no one can find me.
The door appeared. He pushed it open and stepped inside.
The room had changed. It was larger now, with high ceilings and stone walls lined with torches.
"Okay, here we go." Harry walked to the centre of the room and sat down on the floor. He closed his eyes and reached inside himself, feeling for the warm pulse of the grimoire...the ancient book that lived somewhere in his soul.
'Come out,' he thought. 'I need you.'
The warmth spread through his chest, down his arms, into his hands. When he opened his eyes, the grimoire was resting in his lap.
It looked the same as before, an ancient book with a cover of dark purple leather, embossed with the symbol of the cloaked stag.
Without saying anything, Harry reached for the cover and tried to open it. This time, the pages did not resist.
Harry was shocked to find out that the grimoire had opened for him without complaints this time.
He began looking through the pages, scanning the spells written in that elegant script. There was a charm to repel minor dark creatures called Repello Minoris. A shield charm called Aegis. A spell to create light... Luminas, it seemed to be a more advanced and powerful light charm, capable of illuminating an entire room. A spell to detect hidden magical traps, Revelo Insidias.
All of them were written in careful detail, with diagrams of wand movements and notes about proper intent.
"Hmmm?" As he was briefly browsing through the book, he realised something strange. He could only open around one-third of the book. The rest of the pages appeared to be stuck and refused to part.
He turned back to the first page. It had been blank before, but now words were appearing, written in gold ink that glowed faintly.
"To Harry Potter, heir of the House of Potter," the words read. "You have proven that your magical core is developing. You have cast spells. You have shown proper determination. The first third of this grimoire is now open to you."
"This section contains defensive magic, potion recipes, and utility charms...the least dangerous for a novice. Do not underestimate any of these spells. Even the most basic incantations in this book can be considered extremely advanced magic. All of them have tremendous potential when used correctly."
"Use them wisely. Use them carefully. The spells that follow can harm as easily as they can heal."
Harry nodded, speaking aloud to the book. "I understand. I'll be careful."
He then explained to the grimoire what he needed: a spell that would allow him to breathe underwater and protect him from the freezing cold of the Black Lake.
The grimoire seemed to listen; its pages rustled and turned on their own, stopping at a page near the end of the open section.
"Deep-Water Draught" – the title read.
Harry read the description. This was not a spell, but a potion recipe. When consumed, it created a thin, invisible barrier around the drinker's entire body, protecting them from extreme cold and water pressure, and allowing them to breathe underwater for up to thirty minutes.
The ingredients listed next:
Essence of Lily of the Valley
powdered scales of a Merperson
Frozen Bicorn horn shavings
"Why did it have to be a potion?" Harry wondered aloud. He had barely started learning how to brew them, and he would have gotten this far if it weren't for his potion partner.
But seems to be his best chance to gain access to that lake.
Harry copied the recipe into a blank parchment and read it a few times. He was not familiar with those ingredients, and the brewing process seemed very complicated to him. Some of the steps required precision that he did not yet have.
"Im going to need help for this..."
There was only one person who could help him.
'Daphne,' he thought. 'She's good with potions. And her mother owns an apothecary shop. She might have access to the ingredients.'
He closed the grimoire, thanked the Room of Requirement, and left.
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