The Source of Magic

Chapter 5 ~ Magic, the Universe, and Everything

"Are you going to tell us what you've been researching for the past twenty years?" asked Hermione eagerly. It was their second-to-last night at the Burrow, and they would soon be back at Hogwarts. Jason had again summonsed them from the lounge with a sleepiness spell, and the three of them were comfortably seated on the wide couch that, moments earlier, had been Harry's bed.

Before Jason could reply, Harry said, "I'm sure it's really fascinating and all, but I'd be more interested in knowing how you're planning to help me defeat Voldemort. It was interesting hearing about my mother and how she prophesied that I would fight Voldemort, but--"

"Defeat Voldemort," chipped in Hermione.

"Well, yeah, that was encouraging, I guess, but I still don't have a clue how I'm supposed to defeat him; and there's no point in even trying until the Horcruxes are all destroyed, because he'll just come back again."

"Harry, I understand your anxiety," said Jason. "But please, forget about the Horcruxes for the moment - they are not your problem right now."

"What, do you expect me to trust Snape to deal with them?" demanded Harry.

"No, that would be asking the impossible, but I do expect you to trust Dumbledore and everything he set in motion to achieve Voldemort's ultimate defeat. You have a crucial part to play, Harry; it seems the task of finally destroying him will fall upon you. But please remember: you are one of many whose efforts will be required for the final victory. Dumbledore gave Severus the task of learning where Voldemort has hidden the remaining Horcruxes; which is not something you can do. The Order of the Phoenix are actively engaged in containing Death Eater activity and attempting to stymie their recruitment efforts. We cannot move against Voldemort until all the Horcruxes are destroyed - and until you are ready."

"And what is your task?" asked Harry.

"To get you ready; to train you; and to help you develop the magical power you need to defeat Voldemort."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"If you allow me to answer Hermione's question, you will know."

Harry grudgingly sat back on the couch and listened.

"Like me, you grew up in the Muggle world, Harry - you too, Hermione. Magic must have been a bit of shock to you when you first came to Hogwarts - I know it was to me. Did you ever try to figure out how magic fitted in with everything you previously knew about the world?"

"Not really," replied Harry.

"I did," said Hermione, "but it just didn't seem to fit. It was like being on another planet where all the things I'd learned in the Muggle world - about science and technology - were still true, but then there was this other thing, magic, which seemed to obey a completely different set of laws. I guess I was more focussed on learning those laws, learning about magic and becoming good at it, than puzzling over how it fitted in with the way Muggles saw the world."

"Whereas I was unable to stop puzzling over it," said Jason. "It seemed to me that there were things in the Muggle world that were in some ways similar to magic: astrology, fortune-telling, exorcism, the occult, voodoo, witch-doctors, spiritual healers, and of course, the many different religions."

"I don't understand what you mean," said Harry. "Apart from religion, most Muggles don't believe in that stuff."

"Maybe most Muggles in Britain today don't," replied Jason, "but many Muggles in other places and at other times have believed in these things. What I was looking for was a common thread running through them all."

"They are all outside the realm of science," reflected Hermione.

"Correct. Science is a body of knowledge arrived at by logical thought, hypothesis, and experimentation. It aims to discover the basic laws that describe how things work in the universe. Technology utilises those laws. Muggles in the western world believe that their scientific theories alone are right because the technologies based upon them work - electricity, cars, aeroplanes, spaceships, and so on."

"But, hang on," said Ron. "Magic works, too; but Muggles never see it working, so they don't believe in it."

"True," replied Jason, "but it is not just magic that works. Religions - and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of them, also work. Miracles occur, prayers are answered, and prophecies come to pass - not always of course, but certainly it happens. There are a plethora of other non-scientific practices that are not considered religions - like astrology, fortune-telling, voodoo, witch-doctors, shamans, spiritual healers, psychics, and so on, which also appear to work, if one can believe the claims of their adherents. In fact, I doubt very much if there has ever been a people living on earth that did not believe in something or other of the kind."

"What's interesting," mused Hermione, "is that most religions claim that those other non-religious practices you mentioned don't work - that they are based on superstition and delusion. And nearly every religion claims that it alone knows the true god and every other religion has got it wrong."

"Quite right," said Jason. "And, of course, practitioners of the various non-religious traditions also believe that only their particular beliefs are true and only their practices work."

"This is all very interesting;" said Harry impatiently, "but I don't see the relevance - at least not to killing Voldemort."

"Ah, but it is highly relevant, Harry. Please be patient a little longer. I realised that there were thousands of what might be called non-scientific belief systems. They all contradict each other to a greater or lesser extent, and they also contradict science."

"So what?" asked Harry, no longer troubling to hide his growing impatience.

Jason smiled. "They work - perhaps not all of them, perhaps not all the time, but most of them work sometimes to some degree or another."

"That would seem logically impossible," said Hermione, "because they are based on contradictory belief systems. But they do work, just like magic works. Why?"

"A very good question. In fact, precisely the question that haunted me all my years at Hogwarts and for many years after."

"So did you find an answer?" asked Harry impatiently.

Jason ignored him. "For most of those years, I travelled widely, mainly in Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and the Middle East. Modern communications and technology are spreading western culture and values rapidly throughout the world, including the monopoly of science which, sadly, is destroying thousands of diverse cultures and belief systems that have existed for centuries. I was fortunate to make my journey before the destruction was too comprehensive. I studied these non-scientific belief systems, even if they were only held by some small tribe of a few hundred people. But it was more than a study - in many cases I practiced their systems and experienced them working."

"How do you explain the fact that something based on false beliefs actually works?" asked Hermione.

"Because, none of them are entirely false; there is an element of truth in them all."

Even Hermione was looking perplexed now.

"I know it's hard to grasp. Imagine you are looking at the night sky. Firstly, there is the appearance of all those stars hanging in the sky in what seems to be a regular hemisphere draped majestically around the Earth. But the reality of the universe is nothing remotely like that. The stars are hurtling through space at incredible speeds, and some are millions of times further away from the Earth than others. And it is not really the stars themselves that you see; it's the light that began travelling from them, possibly millions of years ago. Some of them ceased to exist long before you were born or even before life began on Earth.

"To take the metaphor a bit further, the appearance of the night sky to someone standing on a planet in some distant galaxy, far from ours, would be utterly different. Yet the reality of the universe you are both looking at is exactly the same.

"Wow, I get it!" exclaimed Hermione. "You're saying that all these non-scientific belief systems are like the appearance of the universe seen from lots of different planets."

"But what does this have to do with magic?" asked Ron.

"Everything," replied Jason. "In the analogy of the star-gazers, the different observers on the different planets are, in fact, looking at exactly the same universe, even though they perceive it very differently from each. But, even more significantly, none of them can see the true reality which lies behind it. In the case of magic, religion, and all the other non-scientific belief systems, their various adherents are looking at the same world; but again, they see it very differently. They have different world views or beliefs about the nature of life and truth."

"And," added Hermione excitedly, "none of them can see the true reality of what lies behind it."

"See what?" asked Harry, struggling to keep up with Hermione.

"The Power, Force, Energy, Spirit, Earth Mother, Gaia, God, Allah, Buddha, Tao, Chi - call it what you like," explained Jason. "Each and every non-scientific belief system is based upon it. They have different names for it, different images of it - in other words, different appearances. And, while none of them may be remotely close to the underlying reality, they all touch it or connect with it in some way, just like our observers who look at the night sky connect with the universe without seeing its true reality."

"And have you actually managed to see this thing - this power or energy or whatever it is?" asked Hermione in awe.

"No, I haven't, although I certainly tried. There are some religions that aim to do just that - to see God, some would call it. I concluded that it is as impossible for us humans, with our limited mental faculties and perceptions, to truly see or understand the nature of the Source (which I shall call it) as it is for an observer to truly see and understand the nature of the universe by looking at the night sky."

"So, basically, you wasted twenty years," said Harry dismissively.

"Not at all," said Jason. "I reached that conclusion quite early on in my travels. What I was chiefly trying to understand was how all these systems were able to utilise the Source without actually having a clear idea of what it really was."

"What was the point of that?" asked Harry.

"To learn how to utilise it more effectively," replied Jason.

Hermione gasped, but before she could speak, Jason continued.

"Magic - like all the other non-scientific belief systems - works by utilising the Source. I wanted to know how. Some wizards and witches are more powerful than others. I wanted to know why."

"Because they utilise the Source more effectively?" asked Hermione excitedly.

"Exactly," said Jason. "Or, to put it another way: because they are able to connect more deeply with the Source."

"And did you learn how to do that, to connect deeply with the Source," asked Harry, finally seeing where this was headed.

"Yes, I did."

"And did it increase your magical powers?" asked Harry.

"Immensely."

"Can you teach me how to do it?"

"That's the plan," said Jason, grinning.

"But how did you discover how to do that?" asked Hermione. "I mean, wizards and witches have been trying to find ways to become more magically powerful for centuries."

"But that's exactly it. You see in most of these non-scientific belief systems - including magic - people have tried to become more powerful, but it never works because the motivation is personal gain. However, I found a number of religious traditions, particularly amongst some of the more obscure Hindu and Buddhist sects, where they simply aspire to experience the Source as deeply as possible. Not to describe it, define it, encapsulate it, or even understand it. Nor are they seeking personal power or worldly gain of any kind. They simply want to experience it for its own sake."

"What's the point? Why would they bother?" asked Ron.

"Because it is the most beautiful, sublime experience imaginable. These are clumsy words, an attempt to describe something indescribable. There are many methods and practices used in various religious and other belief systems. We will be working with some of them, Harry. I found, with practice, I was able to touch the Source at will."

"But, how will you teach me?" asked Harry. "I'm supposed to be returning to Hogwarts in a few days."

"So am I," said Jason. "In his message to Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore asked her to employ me."

"You'll be sorry," laughed Ron. "The Defence Against the Dark Arts position is jinxed - no one ever lasts longer than a year."

"Not a problem," said Jason, "I'm only coming to Hogwarts to help Harry; I'm not planning on staying more than a year. The idea of teaching a bunch of school kids does not appeal one bit - give me my peaceful cave in the mountains any day! In any case, I'll be teaching Potions."

"Oh, is Professor Slughorn leaving?" asked Hermione.

"Wild Hippogriffs couldn't make him stay, according to Professor McGonagall. He feels Hogwarts is far too dangerous for a man of his advanced years."

Ron snorted. "So, do you know who'll be replacing Snape?"

"Again, at Dumbledore's posthumous suggestion, Remus Lupin will be returning to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. I understand he will also be giving you extra training, Harry."

"That's great. He was brilliant," said Harry.

"How will Professor Lupin manage without Wolfsbane Potion?" asked Hermione. "Last time he was at Hogwarts, Snape brewed it for him every month. It will be very difficult for Professor Lupin - and dangerous for the students - without it."

"I shall be brewing it. Admittedly, I only came second to Lily in Potions, but hopefully, I am up to the challenge. In addition to Remus, another member of the Order of the Phoenix, a witch named Nymphadora Tonks, will be teaching Transfiguration now that Professor McGonagall is Headmistress. They clearly wish to maintain a strong presence at Hogwarts."

"Wow, she should be really good," said Hermione, "being a Metamorphmagus."

"So, are you a member of the Order?" asked Ron.

"No, and I don't intend joining. There are only four people who know about Lily's prophecy, and they are all sitting in this room. Likewise, the only four people who know of Severus' true allegiance, or the nature of what I will be teaching Harry, are in this room. The only member of the Order who knows I will be working with Harry is Professor McGonagall, but she is unaware of its true significance. Remus and Tonks will also, no doubt, become aware that I am working with Harry. Inevitably, the three of them will come to suspect the true nature of my role. I can only ask them to be careful about what they share with other members of the Order."

"Yeah, like Mundungus Fletcher," said Harry, "I wouldn't trust that thieving--"

"The fewer people who know about the things I have confided in you, the better. It's not that I mistrust anyone in the Order, but there are many ways of extracting information from people against their will. The best way to keep something secret is to tell as few people as possible. The only reason I am telling you two all of this," said Jason, looking at Ron and Hermione, "is that if I don't, Harry will. Telling you avoids the possibility of his being overheard. Plus, it will save him time - and he will be a very busy wizard this year."

"I realise you have to focus on teaching Harry, but will Ron and I be able to join in sometimes?" asked Hermione hopefully.

"Hermione, it took me many years of constant and exhaustive effort to develop the abilities I need to pass on to Harry in a very short time. It was a process of trial and error for me. I experimented with different methods from different traditions. Sometimes I spent months following paths that turned out to be dead ends. I intend to distil from all of this the most intensive and concentrated program possible to help Harry reach the Source (the Source of Magic). Once Harry begins to near it, I will be able to teach him some of the magic I have learned. Much, but not all of it, requires the enormous magical power that can only come from a deep connection with the Source. It will require all my time and energy, working one-on-one with Harry."

"It sounds difficult," said Harry, wondering if he was really up to it. He remembered how hopeless he'd been at learning Occlumency from Snape. "I mean, not just anyone can do this stuff, right? Lupin told me how you won the duelling tournament when you were in sixth year at Hogwarts - how you beat everyone, including Sirius and my dad. You must have already had a lot of magical power...."

"So do you, Harry, otherwise I wouldn't even be considering it. Let me ask Ron and Hermione: If there had been a sixth year duelling tournament last year at Hogwarts, who would have won it?"

"Harry," they both replied without hesitation.

"And remember your mother's prophecy, Harry; so far it has been spot on. Be cautious, but also be confident. Hermione, there are other spells I have learned in my travels that do not require extraordinary magical power. Some of them I intend to demonstrate to Remus. Hopefully, he will include them in the Defence Against the Dark Arts curriculum. Others, I would like to keep secret for now to give Harry the advantage of surprise - unknown spells are hard to block or counter. But I will try to include the two of you as much as possible when discussing strategy and revealing new developments - to save Harry time it repeating it all to you," he said with a grin.

"I suppose we'll have to get used to calling you Professor," grumbled Harry.

"Well," said Jason with a smirk, "in public yes. You know how it is at Hogwarts; but if any of you call me 'Professor' in a private, I may just have to hex you horribly."

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

The following morning, Harry asked Ginny to walk down to the pond with him. It was another lovely sunny day. They sat in one of their favourite spots under a tall Weeping Willow that leaned out over the water with its long trailing leaves touching the surface of the pond.

"Ginny, I've decided I'm going to return to Hogwarts, after all," began Harry awkwardly, determined to get this painful conversation over with.

Ginny's face lit up. She had been careful not to press Harry. She knew he had to decide his future alone; but still, she had hoped in her heart that this would not be their last day together. Ginny knew there was more to come; she took Harry's hand in hers, remaining silent.

Harry looked away from Ginny, letting his eyes fall on a ripple in the middle of the pond. "Ginny, remember I said at Dumbledore's funeral how I couldn't be involved with you any more because I couldn't bear it, if it was your funeral, and it was my fault?" Ginny remained silent; with her eyes fixed steadfastly on the horizon.

"When I first came to the Burrow, I wasn't planning on going back to school. I thought these were the last weeks we would have together, so we might as well be happy while we could. Anyway, no one but your family and Hermione would know, so it didn't seem like a big risk. But tomorrow we're going back to Hogwarts ... so we really have to stop seeing each other ... once and for all. I know it's going to be painful ... for both of us, but I can't put you at risk. I can't allow you become a target for Voldemort."

"But I already am," replied Ginny fiercely. "Everyone knows we were together at the end of last year, including Malfoy, Parkinson, and all the others whose parents are Death Eaters."

"That's why we have to stop seeing each other. You have to find yourself another boyfriend, so they'll know you've left me for someone else and think I'm jealous and angry with you - that I don't care about you anymore ... and then there'll be no point in trying to use you to get to me," said Harry quickly, attempting to control his emotions.

Ginny lifted her hand to Harry's chin and gently turned his face towards hers so he could no longer avoid her gaze. "Harry, whatever happens now is not the end of you and me. When you first told me we had to stop seeing each other at the funeral, I knew how I felt about you, but I wasn't sure how you felt about me. But after this last month together, I know you feel the same way. So its silly saying we're not going to be together when we both know it's what we want ... more than anything--"

"But Ginny, maybe we can't have what we want. I guess I'm used to it because I never seem to get what I want. We really have to part! There is something I need to do, and it will be easier if I'm not worrying about endangering you. And you have to get on with your life - with someone else."

"I'm sorry Harry, but I can't do that. The best I can do is to pretend indifference and stay away from you. But I want you to know: I'll just be waiting. I'll be waiting until it's all over and we can be together again. I couldn't be with someone else when I feel this way about you."

"But you have to Ginny! It's the only way to convince people that we're really not together. The only other option is for me to date someone else, but that would just be putting them in danger, so I can't do it."

They remained silent for a long time. Harry looked down despondently at the muddy edge of the water, while Ginny stared off into the distance, her eyes unfocussed, lost in thought. Finally she spoke. "Look, Harry, it's not how we really feel about each other that matters, it's what people think, right?"

"Err, right," said Harry uncertainly. "But what do you mean?"

"I mean," said Ginny smiling at him, "that we can be together as long as everyone thinks we're not."

"But how?"

"Tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express, you and I will have a huge row and split up."

"What about?"

"Anything ... I know, I'll catch you snogging another girl."

"What? Err, who?"

"Hermione. She'll agree once she understands the plan."

"You want me to snog Hermione? No, wait, hang on, Ginny, this is crazy! Then Hermione will become Voldemort's target instead of you - and I'll become Ron's target. He'll kill me!"

"No, it's brilliant," said Ginny, grinning. "You see, you won't stay with Hermione; it will all be over in the first week of term. You and Hermione will have a very public fight in the Great Hall."

"What? What will we fight about? I really don't get this."

"Ron! You'll claim you caught Ron and Hermione carrying on behind your back and call her all sorts of nasty names. She'll tell you how pathetic you are, and go off with Ron."

"But Ron may not go along with it. He'll have to pretend to be with Hermione, and he may not want to."

"Come on, Harry, you can't be that blind. Ron wants to be with Hermione, but he's just too terrified to make the first move. Hermione is too proud to make it either, because she thinks she's given him enough hints already, and it's time for him to grow up and take a risk. That's the beauty of my plan: He won't have a choice. He'll have to pretend to be with Hermione to save her from becoming a target, and once he starts pretending, the floodgates of unrequited love might just burst open," she said with a wicked grin.

"But it would still be far more convincing if you went out with someone else, even if it wasn't, you know ... all that serious," said Harry quietly. It was not something he wanted to think about too much.

"Or pretend to go out with someone else," said Ginny thoughtfully.

"Like who?"

"Neville," said Ginny. "We're good friends, and if I confided in him that I needed it to appear that I had a boyfriend, but it was just for show, I think he'd go along with it. I'm sure I could trust him to keep the pretence a secret."

"But what if Neville develops a crush on you, Ginny? I wouldn't like to see him get hurt, and I think he may really like you."

"Actually, I think he's become rather keen on Luna Lovegood. Anyway, he'll know that you and I are secretly together, so he won't get any silly ideas."

"But if he's keen on Luna, then being with you - or at least pretending to be - isn't going to help him with Luna, is it?"

"But of course it is ... how come boys don't understand anything? Nothing makes a boy more attractive to a girl than seeing other girls attracted to him ... that's how it works!"

"Really?" asked Harry, shaking his head. "Well, I don't think Neville knows that."

"Don't worry," said Ginny happily, "I'll explain it to him."

"But hang on; he still can't be with Luna while he's with you, can he?"

"No, of course not; but Neville and I will have a big fight over him sneaking off with Luna, which will let me off the hook."

"But hang on," said Harry getting confused again, just when he thought he was beginning to catch on to Ginny's incredibly convoluted plan. "Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the exercise? You have to be with someone to make it obvious that you're not with me."

"Yes, but not for the rest of my life, Harry. A month or two with Neville and a very public break-up - in which he dumps me - and no one will even remember that you and I were together for a few weeks at the end of the last school year."

"But won't it seem rather strange that someone would dump one of the most popular girls in school for ... well, just about the most unpopular?"

"Of course, which means everyone will be talking about it for ages; it just makes the whole thing between me and Neville seem much bigger in their minds than you and me being together before that. And remember, most people think Neville is pretty peculiar, so it wouldn't seem so incredible. Plus, Neville and Luna really are a great match - I think they might be really happy together."

"I don't know, Ginny. It all seems unbelievably complicated. Are you sure it's going to work?"

"Absolutely," said Ginny with a grin, "and you and I can make good use of that Invisibility Cloak of yours."