Greener hopefully meaning an improvement? Well, I can think of a character than has seen some improvement in recent visits to their world, so let's go back there for a little while :)
Greener Genius Loci watched Hermione step into the Four Network and disappear. He waited nearly thirty seconds before using a tiny bit of wandless magic, the kind that took years and years to learn and certainly shouldn't be capable of turning a stack of cheese and salami slices into a cheeseburger, no matter what he'd just watched Harry do, to conjure a phantasmagoral pigeon. It was sea-ice green and perched on his hand like a sculpture, spoiling the image only slightly by tilting its head to one side and eyeing him beadily. The bulging black hemisphere seemed to be unimpressed, but that was surely because pigeons had too little brain to be impressed by anything. "Pigpimples, report," said Genius. The pigeon straightened up and stretched out its wings, and then leapt from his hand. Two wingbeats in the air and it disappeared, its magical nature allowing it to follow lines of magical force, leylines, that crossed the globe and linked important places to completely irrelevant ones. Many a magical researcher had hunted for a meaning, a source, or even a way to make the leylines greener, and ended their career in tooth-grinding frustration. Two minutes later, which Genius spent updating his current report to indicate that Hermione was considerably more dangerous than the Scrying Division had reported, but was capable of learning at least, the pigeon reappeared out of thin air and settled on Genius's outstretched hand again. "Coo." said the pigeon, which was about as talkative as they got. Genius gently applied illegilimancy, setting a network of magical fibres over the pigeon's head and lifting an impression of thought from it. This could, properly stored, be retrieved using a Mindviewer (which had an industrial strength counterpart called the Mindflayer which Genius felt summed humanity's contributions to wizardry up entirely) but since Genius was a covert operative he simply laid the web over his own head and felt the thoughts sink in. Hermione had arrived at Pigpimples as instructed, and appeared to have quickly encountered an older student who might prove useful in helping her.
Genius frowned and headed back to the conference room. With Harry -- Master Harrington, he corrected himself -- using wandless magic and now this convenient coincidence he wondered if the little wretch was borrowing magic from another universe. That kind of thing tended to fry the borrower in short order, not least because it was hard to find magics that were compatible between universes. And of course, he shouldn't be able to do that... unless.... "How many times did Hermione obliviate you, Master Harrington?" said Genius, walking in. Harry and Ron stopped talking, and Harry frowned. "I don't remember her doing anything like that," he said. "That's because you can't," said Ron. "It was a lot, her record was eight in one day in his first-year." "Eight?" Harry looked horrified. "She was using you as bait as some kind," said Ron sounding miserable. "She said Haggard had taken a fancy to you and it was easier on you if you didn't remember it. I think she was just practicing the spell really." The sound of Genius's palm striking his face silenced whatever Harry would have said next. "How did you recover from that?" he asked, his voice muffled by his hand. "I--" "Hermione unmushed his brain," said Ronnie. "She found a book in the Chamber of Secrets and got some kind of brain glue and put her hands in his head and cleaned it out. There were bugs in there." "What?!" Harry looked appalled and started running his hands through his hair. "I don't remember that!" "You didn't remember anything much at that point," said Ronnie. "I had to remind you to breathe every day." "I see," said Genius shaking his head in disbelief. That would explain linking to another universe to obtain magic, the poor kid was practically a neon sign announcing 'tasty food here, no defences'. "I see. We might have to fix that before I leave for Whitehall then."
Greg - ah, well it's about time you got back to this! I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten it entirely :P
Nice to see things directly from Genius' point of view for a change. And Harry does seem to be doing a whole lot better... I hope whatever Genius intends won't undo all that.
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Greener hopefully meaning an improvement? Well, I can think of a character than has seen some improvement in recent visits to their world, so let's go back there for a little while :)
Greener
Genius Loci watched Hermione step into the Four Network and disappear. He waited nearly thirty seconds before using a tiny bit of wandless magic, the kind that took years and years to learn and certainly shouldn't be capable of turning a stack of cheese and salami slices into a cheeseburger, no matter what he'd just watched Harry do, to conjure a phantasmagoral pigeon. It was sea-ice green and perched on his hand like a sculpture, spoiling the image only slightly by tilting its head to one side and eyeing him beadily. The bulging black hemisphere seemed to be unimpressed, but that was surely because pigeons had too little brain to be impressed by anything.
"Pigpimples, report," said Genius. The pigeon straightened up and stretched out its wings, and then leapt from his hand. Two wingbeats in the air and it disappeared, its magical nature allowing it to follow lines of magical force, leylines, that crossed the globe and linked important places to completely irrelevant ones. Many a magical researcher had hunted for a meaning, a source, or even a way to make the leylines greener, and ended their career in tooth-grinding frustration.
Two minutes later, which Genius spent updating his current report to indicate that Hermione was considerably more dangerous than the Scrying Division had reported, but was capable of learning at least, the pigeon reappeared out of thin air and settled on Genius's outstretched hand again.
"Coo." said the pigeon, which was about as talkative as they got. Genius gently applied illegilimancy, setting a network of magical fibres over the pigeon's head and lifting an impression of thought from it. This could, properly stored, be retrieved using a Mindviewer (which had an industrial strength counterpart called the Mindflayer which Genius felt summed humanity's contributions to wizardry up entirely) but since Genius was a covert operative he simply laid the web over his own head and felt the thoughts sink in. Hermione had arrived at Pigpimples as instructed, and appeared to have quickly encountered an older student who might prove useful in helping her.
Genius frowned and headed back to the conference room. With Harry -- Master Harrington, he corrected himself -- using wandless magic and now this convenient coincidence he wondered if the little wretch was borrowing magic from another universe. That kind of thing tended to fry the borrower in short order, not least because it was hard to find magics that were compatible between universes. And of course, he shouldn't be able to do that... unless....
"How many times did Hermione obliviate you, Master Harrington?" said Genius, walking in. Harry and Ron stopped talking, and Harry frowned.
"I don't remember her doing anything like that," he said.
"That's because you can't," said Ron. "It was a lot, her record was eight in one day in his first-year."
"Eight?" Harry looked horrified.
"She was using you as bait as some kind," said Ron sounding miserable. "She said Haggard had taken a fancy to you and it was easier on you if you didn't remember it. I think she was just practicing the spell really."
The sound of Genius's palm striking his face silenced whatever Harry would have said next.
"How did you recover from that?" he asked, his voice muffled by his hand.
"I--"
"Hermione unmushed his brain," said Ronnie. "She found a book in the Chamber of Secrets and got some kind of brain glue and put her hands in his head and cleaned it out. There were bugs in there."
"What?!" Harry looked appalled and started running his hands through his hair. "I don't remember that!"
"You didn't remember anything much at that point," said Ronnie. "I had to remind you to breathe every day."
"I see," said Genius shaking his head in disbelief. That would explain linking to another universe to obtain magic, the poor kid was practically a neon sign announcing 'tasty food here, no defences'. "I see. We might have to fix that before I leave for Whitehall then."
Greg - ah, well it's about time you got back to this! I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten it entirely :P
Nice to see things directly from Genius' point of view for a change. And Harry does seem to be doing a whole lot better... I hope whatever Genius intends won't undo all that.
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