Tabitha's Diary - A Bewitched / HP cross

[Spokavriel]

I agree that harmonics are responsible. But because they need wands for every possibility to be available why wouldn't there be a reaction.

I also agree it wouldn't always be as powerful as with Harry. I'd think for your average wizard to come in the door that amplification would probably rattle the wrong wands enough for Olivander to clearly hear them and get a better idea from that reaction which way to go for picking the alternative wand.

[lwf58]

Or he knows from the kind of malfunction what type of wood to try next, and roughly what core material may help refine the result. When I think about it, he's had decades of experience at his job, and probably takes an educated guess for the initial wand based on things like family history ("I remember every wand I've ever sold"). Plus, those measurements he takes must serve some purpose.

[Spokavriel]

I think the measurements are more a distraction. After all he seems to use the same kind of tape as the seamstress. And he just has it do more measurements as he's actually getting the first couple wands for the customer out to try.

As to my reason why there are 2 frequencies that each wand will react the most to it comes down to them needing magic to be attenuated to the same range for someone to be able to learn at Hogwarts. So All the wands will have a reaction or resonance once that occurs for someone in the testing space. While the other reactions come from compatible or incompatible output harmonics. The fact that the wand in hand is already causing an adjustment in the signal makes it so all the minority wands to react in that case are automatically not going to work for the customer.

[lwf58]

As I mentioned, I've been slowly working on chapter three of this story. Here's a look at what I have written so far.

Kudos to anyone who recognizes the significance of the flower mentioned at the end of these scenes.

**********

September 8th, 1994.
Dear Diary,

Well, I feel stupid. When I read about Harry in the British teen witch magazines while I was back in the States, I thought he was supposed to be the equivalent of a movie or music star, since he was raved about right alongside the latest wizarding music bands. You know the kind of stuff I mean. What kind of witch he's supposed to like, his favorite foods, what he does in his spare time.

Boy, was I wrong. Everything they wrote about him is pure fiction according to Luna, who has been observing him and his friends for the last three years. The thin, starved look that he sports isn't an affectation brought about by long nights partying and dancing and taking whatever passes for recreational pharmaceuticals among the wizards. He's thin because he's literally starved when he's not at school. By his guardians, no less. He comes to school not only for his education, but also because he can eat three square meals a day here.

Listening to the school gossip has also been an eye-opener. Some of things said about him are what I was expecting, but other things are so full of vitriol that you'd expect he was the second coming of Emperor Nero. You know, spoiled, self-centered, self-serving, and generally rotten. The boy that Luna has learned about is the opposite. He's a typical guy in that he hasn't a clue about how to relate to girls, but she says he's sweet, kind, caring and protective of his friends. Sure, he has his faults, but from what she's told me, they are understandable.

Most of the people who really put him down are from Slytherin, and considering that one of his major detractors is Draco Malfoy, otherwise known as He-Whose-Wand-Swings-Low and The Amazing Bouncing Ferret, I know who I believe.

Today this place earned another black mark in my book. I'm not so naive that I don't know that children can be needlessly cruel and tend to pick on people who don't fit their ideas of what's proper. However, there are some things that go beyond the pale, and I discovered one of them when I went looking for my friend.

**********

Tabitha finished her morning routine and collected her book bag before walking from her room toward the Great Hall for breakfast, keeping an eye open for Luna along the way. Not far from the Hall, she spied her target. Luna was hobbling slowly along the corridor with one hand bracing against the wall with each step.

Tabitha examined what she could see of the girl closely as she increased her pace, attempting to figure out what was causing the distress. Closer inspection revealed an oddity. Luna's socks were mismatched, as were her shoes, which also appeared to be a size or two too small. There were other inconsistencies too. Luna's bag didn't seem to have as many books as Tabitha had seen her carrying the day before.

Upon arriving by Luna's side, Tabitha slipped an arm around the younger girl's waist. "Luna? Why are you wearing two left shoes?"

Luna stiffened in surprise for a moment, but relaxed again after realizing who had touched her. "Oh, good morning, Tabitha. These were the only ones I could find this week, so I've had to wear them for the last few days or go barefoot. The floors are a little too chilly for that, don't you think?"

"The only ones you could find? And you've been wearing them for the last three days? Where are your normal shoes?"

"They must have gone to wherever the missing socks go, so that they wouldn't be lonely. It's rather lovely of them to be so considerate of their companions, so I don't really mind."

"And where are the rest of your textbooks?"

"I don't know, really. Maybe one of our housemates borrowed them? It's okay, they'll turn up on their own before the year ends. They always do."

Tabitha was becoming very angry. "You mean this has happened before?"

"Um... Yes, it happens pretty much every year. I've always thought that it was a peculiarity of this castle that my things seem to like to wander when they are here."

"Wander... I see. Well, I think it's time we convinced them to stay put in the future, don't you?"

Luna's expression took on a worried tone. "You're not planning to do anything rash, are you? I don't want to cause trouble for anyone. Please don't go out of your way to help me. It's not worth it."

"Never, ever say that again, Luna. You're my dear friend, and for me to stay out of it when you're having a problem is about as likely as my great-aunt Clara secretly being Rowena Ravenclaw!"

Tabitha guided Luna into an unused classroom to look at her feet. After easing her down on a bench, she removed the shoes and socks and hissed in sympathy at the sight. Luna's feet were raw and blistered from the time she'd spent trying to act normal in the ill-fitting footwear.

"This is horrible, Luna. We need to get you to Madame Pomfrey for treatment."

"Oh, no! Please. If we do that, there will be questions and things will only get worse!"

"Drat it. Are you sure?" Luna nodded frantically. "Okay, then we'll do this my way."

Tabitha straightened to her full height, and drawing on her magic, chanted,

"From Tripoli to Timbuktu,
I send my plea in search of you.
Another moment don't delay,
Come to aid me, Doctor Bombay!"

Nothing happened. After waiting for several minutes, Tabitha said, "He must not be in North Africa. How about Southern Europe or the Middle East?

"From Pakistan to Waterloo,
I send my plea in search of you.
Another moment don't delay,
Come to aid me, Doctor Bombay!"

This time, she was immediately rewarded when a middle-aged looking gentleman with slicked-down hair and a prim mustache appeared. Luna thought it rather odd that the man was wearing nothing but a black wetsuit.

Tabitha cheerfully greeted him. "Hello, doctor. It's been awhile since I last spoke with you. How have you been?"

Dr. Bombay answered her with a frown. "Sorry, dear, but I'd rather get right to business. I've no time for pleasantries. You interrupted me while I was in Switzerland, trying to talk my new nurse into letting me go diving."

Tabitha looked both perplexed and apprehensive. "I'm probably going to regret asking, but how can you go diving in Switzerland? The waters in the lakes there are freezing cold."

Dr. Bombay cocked one eyebrow and replied, "Who said anything about water?"

Tabitha slapped her palm against her forehead. "I was right. I do regret asking, you old lech. Okay, doctor, my friend's roommates have been pranking her cruelly. Her feet are hurt, but she's refusing to go to the school nurse. Can you fix her up?"

Dr. Bombay smiled tightly. "Of course. It'll be done in a jiffy." He pulled a vial out of the air and uncorked it, sniffing lightly at the aroma. "Yes, this should do the trick nicely. Here, young lady, drink this." He handed the vial to Luna.

As Luna began to drink the potion, and the doctor chanted,

"Ear of corn, Tooth of comb,
Drive your healing powers home.
And with sugar from the beet,
Cure this witch's aching feet!"

Wrinkles smoothed on Luna's brow as the pain she'd been feeling receded rapidly, and the damage to her feet disappeared. "Oh, that feels just lovely! Thank you ever so much, doctor!"

"No trouble at all, dear. Now, if we're quite done, I'd like to get back to my nurse before she cools off. I trust you can handle the rest, Miss Stephens?"

Tabitha smiled evilly. "Oh, yes. You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll handle everything."

With a flourish of the hand, the doctor disappeared with a faint chiming noise.

Luna clapped her hands in delight, "Oh, that's so much nicer than the loud cracking noise people make when they apparate. What spell is it?"

"We just say we're 'popping in' or 'popping out'. We don't have formal names for what we do, Luna. We just do it." Tabitha examined the shoes and socks where they lay on the floor critically. After a pause, she began passing her hand through the air a few inches over the articles of clothing. "I'm used to making alterations to my own clothes, so I should be able to do this." After a few more passes, she picked up the items and handed them to Luna. "There, that should do it. Try them on."

To Luna's delight, the socks were now the same color and length, and the shoes had been resized and converted to fit the proper foot. "Thank you! That should make things much better today."

**********

[Diary continued]

We went on to breakfast after that. I spent much of my meal thinking over various ideas on how to deal with the bullying Luna was experiencing. There were several avenues of approach, but they all began with discovering just who was involved. It was clear that Luna wouldn't tell me, because of her fear of escalating the abuse.

Problem two was the need to get the point I want to make across in a way that would stick with the bullies without causing the staff to step in on their side. I could not try to enlist the aid of the staff for the same reasons that I couldn't just ask for the names involved -- Luna wouldn't allow it, and I do not want to disappoint her. That means that intimidation cannot cross the line, and the same goes for physical chastisement. That leaves me with limited options if I don't want to make Luna upset with me.

Fortunately, I have a few ideas.

**********

After breakfast, Tabitha led Luna back to the Ravenclaw Tower, and to the third year girls' dormitory. "Okay. We should enough time before classes for what I have in mind." Tabitha spun on her heel, taking in the room. It was essentially the same as her dormitory, five beds arrayed in a star pattern around a central heating stove. "The first thing we need to know is where your things are hidden. This is something I haven't tried before, so I don't know if it'll work."

She spent a minute in thought, trying to make up an appropriate rhyme. "All right, let's try this one.

"Eyes that search on gentle winds,
Show me things that are my friend's!"

Luna's clothing began to glow with a pale yellow halo, as did her bag and the books and supplies in it. It became obvious which bed was hers as well, since the trunk at its foot also glowed, along with the toiletries on the side table.

Tabitha growled at herself. "That wasn't very well thought out. They only glow if we can see them already, and that's useless unless I want to take the time to poke through every hidey-hole in the castle looking for things that glow when I find them."

She thought some more. "What I need is a spell that will show me the hiding places of your things, not just identify the things as yours. Maybe if I define what I want better? Let's try,

"Eyes that search on gentle winds,
Seek out things that are my friend's,
Eagle, sparrow, Canada bacon,
Reveal to me that which was taken,
Diggory, daggory, rumpkin jar,
Mark the places where they are!

This time, two of the trunks glowed, neither of them being Luna's. With a snap of her fingers, Tabitha opened both trunks simultaneously and clothing and books glowing the pale yellow of Luna's possessions floated out and bobbed through the air to land on her bed. "So, will you tell me whose trunks those are?"

Luna shook her head. "I really, truly thank you for what you are trying to do for me, but I still think that this is a mistake. If they find out that I've gotten my things back, they'll just make up for it by doing even worse."

"Please, Luna, trust that I know what I'm doing. I'm going to convince those girls that bullying you will just bring them grief. If you don't stand up to bullies, they never stop."

"You're not going to give up until I tell you, are you? Very well. Those trunks belong to Latisha Randle and Felicity Eastchurch. They are the ones that usually try to get a rise out of me. The others mostly just ignore me."

"Okay. I'll be keeping an eye on them but for now I'll leave them alone." Tabitha cast a summoning spell, and a small folded paper packet came flying to her a few minutes later. She tied a handkerchief across her nose and mouth, and gestured to Luna to stand back. Opening the packet carefully, she dusted the black powdery contents on both the outside and inside of Luna's trunk. She followed that action with another spell, carefully imagining the results she wanted. The powder seemed to sink into the wood of the trunk.

"There. If anyone other than you or me tries to open this trunk, they'll get a dose of that and the trunk will stay locked shut. Then the fun begins."

"What is the powder?"

"Dried and ground petals of a Black Peruvian Rose."

"What does it do?"

"Just you wait and see. It'll be fun, I promise. Anyway, we'd better get going or we'll be late to class."

[Ellen Kuhfeld]

Looks good. Is great-aunt Clara really Rowena Ravenclaw?

[lwf58]

Is great-aunt Clara really Rowena Ravenclaw?

That's an in-joke for the crowd at the CaerAzkaban Yahoo Group. Another author named Clell has written a few installments of a story that inspired me to write mine, another Bewitched/HP cross. In it, Aunt Clara really was Rowena Ravenclaw when she went slumming with Wizards for awhile. The story has a working title of "Bewizarded", and it's permanent title may be "Harry Potter and the Elder Sect".

A lot of people who have seen the available parts of that story get mine mixed up with it, so you may have seen in the comments I have on ff.net mentions of "Elders" or "Elder Sect". When I posted that joke in CaerAzkaban for the first time, I had one person say, "I thought she was Rowena... Oh! That's right, it was another story!"

Clell himself joked that because my story has been published on ff.net first, people will probably think his was inspired by mine.

[Spokavriel]

I like it. I don't see any flubs. But you'd think Dr. Bombay would have another tactic to try. He's been doing that one at least once a season. Or once a Nurse, whichever comes quicker.

[lwf58]

He tries dressing up as a football player and tackling them more often.

Far as I know, he does go through nurses fairly often, since it doesn't take long before they catch on to his intentions. Apparently, most of them do not appreciate the subtlety of his approach. I imagine he has a reserved space in the want ads.

[Spokavriel]

The A-Team's armored vehicles are more subtle.

[lwf58]

Anyway, I have some heavy duty writing to do in the next scene. This chapter covers the 8th of September, the day that Barty Crouch Jr demonstrates the Unforgivables to the fourth year Hogwarts students. I have to write a new version of it, because like most classes, Ravenclaw shares that with Hufflepuff. No Harry, Hermione, Ron, or Draco, so I can't use any canon dialog.

[Spokavriel]

Well you could get away with some re-use. After all some reactions are rather universal. But yeah there will be allot to do so it doesn't end up too blatant.

[lwf58]

Actually, I was a little premature. Here's a couple of sections that go before DADA class.

**********

[Diary continued]

Most of the morning classes were straightforward, much as I described in my earlier entries. When it came time to perform magic in Transfiguration, my wand worked as flawlessly as it had for Professor Flitwick's classes.

Potions class was another matter. I was right that my studies at Salem helped me, but what I didn't know is that I'd have to fall back on my memories of them almost exclusively. Professor Snape is every bit as horrid a teacher as I'd heard. He writes brief formulas for the potions he wants us to produce in class, and then expects us to follow the written directions while he walks around picking out flaws in technique. We share the class with Hufflepuff, as we do most classes, and he doesn't have a vendetta against us like he does Gryffindor. Still, his comments are condescending and not really meant as assistance or useful critique. If I hadn't already a very good grounding in the subject, I'd be lost. As it is, he seems to regard me as a potions prodigy, a lofty status that means he doesn't pick on me as much as the others. He only sneers at me if I don't produce work he regards as acceptable.

Defense Against the Dark Arts has been a revelation, and not just to me. From what I've heard around the school, Professor Moody is one of the best teachers in the subject in living memory. Most of the students agree that for all his eccentricities, he's taught them more useful things in the first week of school than most have learned in two of the last three years. Only Professor Lupin, the man who turned out to be a werewolf, is regarded more highly, and as time goes by that may change.

The Professor told us last session that today we will be having a very exciting lesson. He's gotten special permission from the school and the Ministry to teach us about three spells called the "unforgivables". I haven't read anything about them yet, so it'll be new material for me too.

**********

As the staff sat for lunch at the head table, Dumbledore addressed two of his subordinates. "Filius, Severus. How goes the analysis of young Mr. Malfoy's wand?"

Flitwick was the first to answer. "So far, nowhere, headmaster. We've borrowed the wand to study when Draco hasn't been in classes. All we've learned is that when not in his possession, the wand reverts to normal and we can detect nothing out of the ordinary about it. We went so far as to pay a visit to Ollivander last weekend, and even he could find no fault. Yet when returned to the boy, it immediately lost rigidity again. I'd venture to say that whatever has affected the wand is beyond my understanding of modern magic. I've made it an extra credit assignment for the seventh year students to research any historical accounts that might explain the phenomenon."

"Severus, have you ruled out that it might have been somehow caused by a potion or some form of alchemy?"

"Entirely, headmaster. I will not indulge in false modesty. I am one of the premier potions masters of my generation, and I say categorically that there is nothing in the modern potions inventory that could create the effects we see at work. Any alchemical formula that might cause the wand to become rubbery in that fashion would leave detectable traces behind. None of them could cause those symptoms and make them turn on or off so quickly, or be keyed to the actions we observe."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I agree. This is a most intriguing puzzle, is it not? Have we also ruled out his contention that the Stephens girl could have cursed him?"

Snape graced the comment with his trademark sneer. "Of course. The very idea that a fourteen year old girl could perform a curse that we could not detect, and counter, is so far beyond the pale that it isn't even worth thinking about. My own theories lay more in the direction that the manufacture of the wand was flawed in a way that even Ollivander did not notice when he made it, or when he tested it for us. I suspect that it only became apparent when Draco's magic developed to a level that placed sufficient strain on the wand to trip the flaw. That it happened at the time when he supposed Stephens 'cursed' him is no coincidence. He would have been feeling an emotional stress that may have been the trigger."

"That seems like a reasonable supposition, but it will be difficult to prove," noted the older man.

"Yet I firmly believe that it will in time prove to be the correct one. In the meanwhile, I am sending a note to Draco's father to provide another wand for him to use while we continue our investigations."

"Excellent. I see you have this matter well in hand, and for what it's worth, you have my blessings to proceed. Now, shall we eat? No sense in letting the house elves' efforts go to waste by letting our repast grow cold."

Taking that for the dismissal of the subject that it was, both men tucked in.

[Spokavriel]

Wow um didn't you write that the phenomena was happening with other wands that Draco gets in hand as well? The Faculty seem to be completely ignoring that facet. I know they are short sighted and hide bound from the books but I can't believe they would ignore the possibility of a spell being on the Wizard instead of the wand.

Edit: I know you covered the potion possibility. But don't forget Hexes and Curses are also part of Potter's world.

[lwf58]

The mention detailing the way the curse works appeared in one of Tabitha's diary entries.

From the staff POV, the curse was cast only six days ago. Since school is in session, no one had much time except on the weekend to conduct an investigation. Also, no one has tried giving him another wand yet - would you, without knowing whether whatever his was cursed with might transfer? They don't have extras lying around the place.

Since they cannot detect the magic at all, they have no reason to think that the boy rather than the wand was cursed. After all, Draco is showing absolutely no signs of being under any kind of magic either. All the effects are exhibited by the wand, and for lack of any other evidence they have to assume it's the wand that the problem is centered around. The closest they are to figuring that out is Snape's idea that it's Draco's magic that is triggering the 'flaw'.

Of course, when they do have a spare wand to give Draco, that idea is going to very promptly bite the dust.

[Spokavriel]

Sorry about the confusion. But at this point wouldn't the Faculty at least still mention, even to discount, the possibility?