Accidents of Circumstance

Chapter Two: Circle of One

Regina flopped down onto her favorite armchair in her sitting room. The quarters she had asked for weren't in any areas designated for the four student Houses, and were comfortable. She had a sitting room, bedroom and personal bathroom, all guarded by her own portrait hole. Regina had made it a point to be friendly one the night of her arrival with her portrait guardian, whose name was Mabel Winningham. Apparently, Miss Winningham had been the daughter of a prosperous family who had contributed a lot of money to the founding of Hogwarts. As a result, her portrait now hung within its walls. She approved of Regina, though she found some of the Muggle artifacts a little disturbing.

Her sitting room had fluffy blue carpeting, a small round oak table with two matching chairs. There was her favorite armchair facing her entertainment center, which held a TV, VCR, DVD player, PS2, Gamecube and stereo with 5.1 surround speakers. There were throw pillows everywhere, in case she wanted to flop down on them. Three bookcases were spaced evenly along the walls, with anime wall scrolls and pencil boards hanging between them. Inside the bookcases were a lot of scholarly textbooks on various subjects, including science, philosophy, parapsychology, psychology and social work. She kept one shelf for various journals that she hadn't sorted through yet.

Her bedroom was right against the outer wall of the castle, so she had a large bay window next to her bed. There was a small alcove, into which she placed another desk and single chair. On that desk sat her computer, various stacks of books and papers, and a pile of CD's and floppy disks. The floor had thick dove gray carpeting, and it offset the cherry wood of the desk, headboard, footboard and bookcases. These bookcases were filled mostly with paperback or hardcover books that she read for pleasure. There was a landscape painting on the wall facing her bed which had an odd shimmer, as if the waterfall and trees were actually moving. The two pillows had dark burgundy covers, and the bedspread had an art deco design in black, gold, burgundy and green.

The bathroom was simple peach tile, and everything had porcelain accents. The tub appeared to be claw footed in the Victorian style, but it was much deeper than it looked. Fluffy pink towels were piled between the tub and the sink.

Regina liked these rooms a lot. They reminded her of home, which she hadn't seen in months, and yet still had enough room to walk around in and not bump into her belongings. She had made a deal with the house elves, whom she had never dealt with before. They would leave her bookcases and desks alone, but could clean and launder everything else. And she would boss them around properly, once they had explained about that. None of that "please" and "thank you" nonsense reserved for people.

She wasn't overly surprised by the knock on her door. Mabel may be her portrait guardian, but if there was a guest, she knocked first to allow Regina the final decision of whether or not she was in.

Regina didn't want to work on her article anymore. "Mabel, send him in, whoever it is."

The door swung open, and there stood Harry Potter, flanked by Hermione and Ron.

"This had to happen sooner or later," Regina said with a half smile. "Come on in, make yourself at home. I did."

Ron stared goggle eyed at the walls and entertainment center. "Cor... what is all that?"

"Muggle stuff. Took me hours to explain it all to your father at the Ministry. You can take a look at it if you like." Ron didn't need a second invitation.

Hermione was staring at the bookshelves. There was a rather large tome on one shelf entitled Dark Realms of the Universe that she seemed especially fond of. "You could borrow that one, if you want. I don't need it right away." Regina almost laughed at the expression of rapt wonder on Hermione's face as she pulled the book off of the shelf.

Regina grinned at Harry. "Well, Harry, I've effectively disarmed your bodyguards. It's just you and me now... What's on your mind?"

"Protective spells," Harry blurted. "I was hoping you would know some really good ones that you could teach me."

"Any particular kind?"

Harry blinked. "There are kinds?"

"Of course. There's all kinds of spells in all kinds of magical styles. I'm assuming you want to protect yourself from harm, but there are different spells for different kinds of harm. Have a seat, this'll take a while."

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?" he asked worriedly, seeing the stack of scholarly journals piled up on the table.

"Absolutely not. I needed the distraction. There's only so long you can work on the parallels between poltergeist activity and burgeoning magic ability before you want to scream from the frustration of it all."

"You're the expert in that."

"Which is why I'm just about ready to explode with it. I don't think there's a need to refine my early papers, but the field is just beginning." Regina gestured for Harry to sit down across from her at the table. "Okay, spill it."

"Er... You didn't make a fuss about me in class, so maybe you don't know..."

"That you're the famous Harry Potter? Oh, I know that."

Harry blinked. "But you didn't say anything."

"Should I have?" Regina smiled at him. "You probably get that from all your other teachers. Why should you get it from me? It's probably a welcome break."

"Um... yes. Yes, actually. But... well, what do you know, exactly?"

Regina began to tick off facts on her fingers. "Parents killed by Voldemort, who then tried to kill you. You survived, he didn't. You grew up with Muggle relatives and was treated like crap. You found out about your magic heritage and came here to Hogwarts. You've been battling various incarnations of Voldemort ever since."

"You're well informed."

"It pays to be." Regina leaned back in her chair. "But knowing that isn't worth its weight in gold, you know. It says absolutely nothing about you. You could be a prick from all the attention you get, but you're surprisingly well adjusted. How much of that is from the pressure they put on you?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Everyone treats you like you're the Wizarding World's last great hope, and you're not out of school yet."

"Well, I've beat him so far..."

"And you're not doing spectactularly well at school. Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts notwithstanding."

"Er, I figure I should be an Auror."

"Right." The tone in Regina's voice told Harry what she thought of that idea: not much. "And what do you really want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Because you haven't had time to figure that one out."

"Well, how do you know?"

Regina pursed her lips. "What makes you happy?"

Harry blinked. "In school, you mean?"

"In anything. What are you good at?"

"Quidditch. Being friends. Er... foiling Voldemort's plans."

Regina blinked. "You actually used the term 'foiling Voldemort's plans.'"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Are you buying into that crap the Daily Prophet is spewing?"

"I don't think I am..."

"Think for yourself, then. They're probably the ones that said you'd make a great Auror."

"They're probably right."

"Probably. But would it make you happy?"

"I don't know."

"Then go play Quidditch for a living."

"But I don't know if that's what I want either."

"What do you want, Harry? That's the thing. That's the important thing."

"I want to figure that out!" Harry practically shouted, hands gripping the armrests to the chair tightly. "I don't know what I want!"

Regina leaned back in her chair again, nodding. "And of course you will. If people let you sit still long enough to figure it out. You're still a child."

"I'm sixteen."

"And have been playing hero since eleven. It's all you know." Harry didn't deny that. "So it's what you think you should still do. But something in you is rebelling against that."

"I should be grateful, I know..."

"Oh please!" Regina gave an unladylike snort. "What you should be is a kid. But noooo, they all stole that from you, too."

Harry looked to his right and noticed that Hermione and Ron were still enraptured by their finds. "Why didn't they hear us?"

"I've charmed us to silence. I figured what you needed to say is hard enough without them interrupting us."

Harry slumped in his chair. "Oh. Well... I don't know what to do. He killed this boy that looked just like me, you know... It was in the papers."

"It was a glamour."

Harry looked up. "What?"

"Glamour. The fairy trick of making something look like something else. So that means that Voldemort figured out fairy magic or has someone else in his employ who does. And it's not that rare, you know. Especially here, where there's been more traditional crossovers than you can shake a stick at." Regina shrugged and nibbled on a nail. "It would fool most people who didn't know what to look for."

"And you know."

"I told you in class. I know many esoteric things."

"Can you teach me? I want to protect myself."

"And so you should. But you need to know what against. You can't just say 'Protect me!' and expect it all to be done. You can't wish everything away. There's limits."

"I don't know enough about this..."

"Someone should've paid more attention in class," Regina admonished. Harry at least had the grace to look sheepish, remembering he was talking to a teacher. She looked and dressed like a college student, but she was still faculty. "Look, kiddo... I asked you all that about what you wanted to do with yourself for a reason. Because like it or not, you have to see a future for yourself somewhere. You have to know what to do with yourself. You can't let some newspaper plan your life for you. If it said you have to be careful, okay, that's good advice regardless. But I can't in good conscience let you go do something just because they think it's a good idea. If you hate it, you're still stuck with it."

Harry took a deep breath. "I want the people I love to be safe."

"An admirable goal."

"And I'll do whatever I can to make sure it'll happen."

"That doesn't necessarily make you an Auror."

"It doesn't?"

"No. There's lots of other things for you to do."

"Really?"

"Yup. So that's something to think on for a while."

Harry looked a little less worried. "I still have to do something to protect myself, though."

"And there are plenty of spells in different disciplines that can do it. But most of them are very, very specific."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you could prevent your hair from being used in spells against you, or your blood, or objects you've touched. There's spells to prevent you from being hit. There's spells against fire, water, earth or air damage. There's spells to ward you against all kinds of things. There's no real cure-all." Regina let that sink in. "At least... none that are known."

"What do you mean?"

"I've invented a spell... it doesn't cover everything, not by a long shot. But it's as good a start as any, and it'll cover a lot of things."

"How do you do that?" Harry looked amazed. Regina got the feeling that in another lifetime, Harry would've been happily ensconced in facilities dedicated to inventing new spells and combinations of spells.

"You have to understand the foundations of magic very well, and be able to manipulate it very well. Remember all that mumbo-jumbo I spouted this morning about focus and control? It's serious, Harry. You need understanding and willpower. And that's it."

"So can you teach me?"

"This spell? Sure."

Harry blinked. This was too easy. "Why?"

Regina leaned forward, a soft look on her face. "Harry, it doesn't matter if you're the Boy Who Lived or the Girl Whose Magic Arrived Too Soon. Fame takes some of the wonder and joy out of childhood. And you have enough to worry about right now. The least I can do is help you feel safe."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Though, in the future, you should remember that a healthy dose of caution is a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

"You're way too trusting. You haven't asked me what the spell is called, what it does, what's in it, what you have to do, nothing."

"But... you wouldn't do anything..."

"Do you know that?"

Harry paused a moment. "I shouldn't say yes. But I do."

"Why?"

"Because you hugged Dumbledore. And Snape hates you."

Regina looked amused. "And if that was staged?"

"But it's not. You're honest, I can tell. You don't lie for fun. And you honestly care about people, and I know you're a good person."

"And that's it for you?"

"It's this feeling I have... I can't explain it."

Regina nodded. "You should go with your gut instinct, Harry, it's a good one."

Harry waited a long moment. "So what's in this spell?"

Regina grinned. "You don't want to know."

"Why not?"

"You'd have to get into the Restricted Section of the library to read up on some of the ingredients. They're really rare."

"You mean it's a potion?" Harry looked sick. "Snape isn't going to teach it to me, is he?"

"Silly boy... I told you I'd teach you."

"So then what....?"

"Yes, part of it is a potion. It's not a simple spell."

"It's not? You made it seem as though it was."

"Old habit of mine, sorry." Regina grinned. She didn't look sorry at all. "Magic comes easily to me. I tweak its nose all the time. What I did is combine several different spells together, to get a general protective barrier."

"So it's like a shield."

"Not quite."

Now Harry looked confused. "But then, how is it a barrier but not a shield?"

"You're thinking too literally. Magic can do many things, but not all of them are physical effects. My spell acts to counter a lot of magical attack modes."

"Like what?"

"Like... the hair. It couldn't be used in spells that you don't authorize. No polyjuice potion, no locator spells, no nothing. The blood works the same way."

"You seem to like that."

"Huh?"

"Blood magic. You mentioned that twice now, and you're going to be teaching it to us."

"Let's just say that I know some magic that your Ministry thinks should be illegal and never taught again. And let's just say that some of it involves blood."

Harry's jaw dropped open. "You know the Dark Arts?"

"Don't be silly... it's only the intent that's dark, not the art itself."

"But it's outlawed!"

"Didn't see that law get passed in America."

Regina looked smug, and Harry couldn't help but grin in the face of her attitude. "You really don't like our Ministry, do you?"

"Let's just say that they're not doing themselves any favors."

Harry laughed. "So yours is better?"

"Not really. But they don't know that some forms of magic exist, so it's lots easier to study it when you find it."

"But how can they not know?"

"Do you know what ley lines are?" Harry nodded. "You probably heard about them in History of Magic. Well, other than the standard ones that float around Europe, there are apparently a lot of different kinds in America that haven't been recorded. I'm not sure if it's because the European version's been all tapped out or because the land formation includes something weird. I doubt it's the bedrock, since it's the same as anything else. It could just be the way the magic distributed itself, I don't know. But some of the really rare magic and creatures can be found hiding. And if you're lucky enough to recognize it, you may be lucky enough to find someone willing to teach you."

"And you did."

"Yes. And I don't go advertising, but some people can sense it."

"Like Dumbledore."

"Absolutely. Albus is another one, he plays it close to his chest and doesn't let on everything that he knows. He told me you would probably wait as long as possible before coming to me for help."

"He said that?"

"Well, your upbringing didn't quite endear you to going for help."

"There was no one to go to."

"Exactly. So you have to fend for yourself."

"But I don't know this, and Hermione's spent the past month looking for something in the library to help me."

"What are you fighting against, do you think?"

"We don't know," Harry said, sounding frustrated. "But that boy that looked like me... he must've been killed by Avada Kedavra."

"Because why?"

"Because they couldn't find the cause of death."

"But I told you that he was covered by glamour."

"It doesn't mean anything."

Regina grinned, triumphant. "Thank you, Lord, I was beginning to believe you didn't have a sneaky bone in your body."

Harry smiled shyly. "You're a teacher. I can't tell you everything."

Regina laughed. "Damn straight. But as long as I know you may have the skills after all... It changes things. This may be easier than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Some of what you ask me for may not be... legal... in this country."

"Dark Arts, you mean."

"If you ask me for help, I know it's serious." Regina was now looking serious, no more joking, no more asides. "I can try to gauge as much as I can from your conversation, but bottom line is, it's serious."

"Voldemort's trying to kill me."

"Old news," Regina said with a dismissive wave. "The thing is, sometimes, I try to take the easy way out myself. So if I give you an easy answer, it may not be the right one. It may not be in your best interests to let on what you know."

"Hide what I know."

"Exactly."

"Because it'll get me in trouble?"

"It'll get us all into trouble. You for knowing, me for teaching, Dumbledore for allowing. Because he sure as hell didn't hire me just to look pretty. He knew it was a distinct possibility that I might have to teach you dangerous magic."

"He did?" Harry's voice sounded faint to his own ears. He suddenly wasn't feeling very grown up. He would've rather been ten again, to tell the truth.

"Dumbledore is there to help, Harry. If you had asked him, he would've done whatever is in his power to help. But the thing is, there are some things that he just cannot do, since he is Headmaster. And as much as he may not agree with Fudge and the rest of them, he has to abide by what they say. He plays a fine line here, much finer than me. I'm just a teacher. I'll get a stern talking to and I'll be kicked out of the country. But then, I have a home to go back to. You're the one to deal with the fallout. You have to deal with the idiocy that locks you into a set pattern that says you're the hero in this piece, and you don't have any options."

"I don't."

"Bullshit."

Harry stared at Regina, at the set look in her face. No teacher had ever been this serious before when talking about magic with him. And certainly none of them had ever uttered an obscenity in his presence before.

"Harry, like it or not, they've set the stage for you to be their hero. But if you really, really wanted to, you could walk away."

"I can't do that."

"Meaning, you choose not to."

"I guess so," Harry replied after a pause. "I can't just let Voldemort take over."

"Yeah. Killings and mass destruction. Much Avada Kedavra being tossed about like candy on Halloween. Bad things in general. But your government makes it sound like it's stark black and white, good and evil."

"Isn't it?"

"God, no. There's gradations in evil. Life doesn't follow any neat set of rules you may have been given. Life is messy, and all over the place, and twists out of your hands every time you think you've got a good grasp on it. And that concludes my philosophy lesson for the day," she added with a wry grin.

"So how does that help me?"

"Harry... You can't pin down reality and tell it to behave. It doesn't belong to anyone or anything other than itself. And when it comes right down to it, I think the Fates have a nasty sense of humor. I mean... you're a kid, and you're expected to do what grownups can't. Why do you think that is?"

"I've never stopped to think of it."

"No, I don't suppose you have. You just got told what to do and ran with it."

"This is all I know."

"And by all means you should save it. This is your world, after all. But... and this is a big but... you can't just run in and save the day without any prep time."

"Isn't that what I'm here for?"

Regina sighed. "If I thought that was all you needed, I would've given you a potion, told you to drink it, say a few mystical words by the light of a moon and kicked you out of my room and gone to bed. It's not so simple. You need guidance. You've been left to your own devices for far too long."

"I get advice!"

"Uh huh. From your two sidekicks or your godfather."

"They-"

"I'm not knocking them, Harry," Regina said gently. "But sometimes, it takes someone outside the system to see what you really need."

"And what's that?" he asked, curious.

"Usually, I give my students two pieces of advice, if they ask for it. I tell them that they are responsible for their own actions. And you definitely feel more than your share of that. And I tell my students to know thy enemy."

"What for?"

"You have to know what's coming in order to deal with it. You have to know what you're facing in order to plan for it. You can't run in without some kind of preparation. And you've been doing that for far too long. It may have worked so far, but it won't work forever."

"So what do you think?"

"That it's time to sit and reassess."

"But I can't sit here and do nothing!" Harry jumped up in his seat. "Voldemort is trying to kill me, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"Sit down, Harry," Regina said coldly. He sat. "That's not what I said, you know. I said you have to reassess. Which means, you have to set down your priorities, what you know and what you don't know. And then you have to fill in the blanks. It's only when you know everything about what you're getting yourself into that you can defend yourself for it."

In the silence, Harry suddenly remembered what Regina had said at the beginning of their conversation. "What kind of defense?" he parroted dully.

"Exactly. What I would give you should be only the beginning. If I had given it to you right away, no discussion, you would take it and run and start planning some unholy plan that would get you out of this castle and hunting for Voldemort."

He didn't bother to deny it. "So now what?"

"It takes time to brew, anyway."

"You could have said so."

"And then you would've left, and we never would have had this talk."

"Are you sure you don't have the Sight?" he asked suspiciously.

Regina laughed. "I don't, it's just experience with a lot of sulky kids."

"I'm not sulking."

"Just extremely unhappy, is that it?" she teased. Harry was silent. Regina gave a small sigh and took Harry's hands into hers. "Look, kiddo. These things take time. You have a lot of power that's untapped. And it'll take time for you to learn all you can do, all you need to know. You're young, you feel like everything has to be done now, screw it all, there is no morning. But there is a morning, and not everything has to be done now. Some things take time to plan for, and there's no getting around that."

"But why does it have to take so long?"

Regina laughed at Harry's expression. "Let's just start with this spell of mine, one step at a time. How's that? It's easier when you think of it that way."

He looked up at her slowly. "And other than Dumbledore maybe asking you to... why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?"

"You need it. You asked for it. And it needs to be done."

"But why you?"

Regina's smile was bittersweet. "I could've been a lot different, you know. If I had things my way when I was younger, we wouldn't be here, talking like this. I wouldn't know even half the things I know now, and I wouldn't know what it's like to lose things I really care about. And what comes down to is this: I don't want it happening again, not to anyone else."

"But Voldemort never came to America."

"He didn't have to. Ever hear of the ripple effect? One thing touches another, and that touches another, and another and another... He didn't have to hurt me directly, it just happened. That's life. It just happens, and sucks to be you."

"What happened?"

"That's a tale for another night. Let me tell you three about the basics of this spell."

Suddenly Hermione and Ron noticed them. "What spell?" she asked them.

Harry turned to Regina. "That's sneaky."

"Better get used to it, kiddo. Just 'cause I like you doesn't mean I'll play fair." She conjured two matching chairs with a wave of her hand. "Sit down, I'll tell you about a protection spell I invented a while ago. I call it the Circle of One since it isolates you from what would possibly do you harm."

Hermione watched as Regina pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "So what exactly does it protect you from?"

"Magic spells involving hair, skin, nails, possessions, people you know. Most known spells won't work without something personal. Body parts carry traces of your genes in them, that's how the spell orients to you. Your possessions carry an impression of you, people around you carry an impression. All of this is used to point the way for the spell to work. My spell bounces it backwards and away from you. It doesn't harm the one working against you, doesn't identify them to you, but it will buy you time."

"How long does it work?" Hermione asked.

"Good girl," Regina murmured, looking up from her writing. "It wears off after a while. I don't know exactly, since it does depend on whether or not it's actively blocking spells for you or not. But at least a month."

"And how long does it take to brew?"

"It's a potion?" Ron asked in horror. "You said it was spell!"

"So it is. But as Hermione noticed, I'm writing a list of ingredients. It's a complex spell, since I've combined various other spells. So there's a potion component as well as some spellcasting." Regina handed Hermione the sheet of paper. "I have all this, so I don't expect you to go stealing this from Severus' closet. But you'll want this for future reference."

"So why are you giving it to her?" Harry asked, curious.

"Hermione strikes me as the brains of the group." Hermione preened at the compliment. "Now, this is the potion part I've written down for you. It takes a full week to brew, but that amount will give you three a few months' supply, assuming you dose yourselves at once a month. I don't think you'll need it, but it never hurts to be cautious."

Harry heard the undercurrent in Regina's words. She believed in preparation. She believed in knowledge to protect yourself, to prevent the worst possible scenario. This is what he had to be, what he had to learn how to do for himself. "And what happens when it's done brewing?"

"Then it's time to cast the circle."

"So this time next week you'll cast the circle for us?" Ron asked.

"No. This time next week, I'll teach you how to do it for yourselves."

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