Past Present

Harry raised his hand to knock on the door once more. Odd, he could hear Ivan and Natasha barking up a storm on the other side, and he knew Viktor should be in there. The light had been on when he crossed the lawn after Quidditch practice. He rapped once more, tentatively, and looked up and down the hall, bouncing a little on his toes. Deserted. He was bursting, he had to tell someone and Ron had decided to go raid the kitchen, Hermione must be in the library or her dorm...

"What?" Viktor's voice came sharp and irritable from behind the door as soon as it began to swing open.

Harry jumped guiltily, as though he had been caught red handed at something. "Oh. Sorry. I..." he trailed off when he looked at Viktor's face. Ron's remark about Viktor looking like he could bite a spike nail in two suddenly seemed very apt.

"Harry. Come on in. Don't just stand there," Viktor said, stepping back from the doorway. The voice softened somewhat, but Harry still thought he hadn't seen Viktor looking this angry since the Quidditch match against Wales.

"If this is a bad time...I could go...I mean...I have a DADA test I need to study for and..." Harry stammered.

Viktor snorted incredulously at the mention of DADA, but did not elaborate. "It is a bad time. But nothing to do with you. At least you woke me up. Or rather the dogs did. Sit down," Viktor said, flopping rather limply into one of the chairs. Harry perched timidly on the very edge of the cushion opposite. Harry swallowed and studied Viktor's face, waiting for a further explanation. Why would I be waking him up at this time of day? It was barely early evening. More like late afternoon. The only reason it was dim enough outside to require a light was the thick winter cloud cover. Then Harry noticed the dark smudges under his eyes and the wan look, but he was hard pressed to say whether Viktor looked more tired or irritated. His jaw was set, scowl in place, eyes narrowed, brows low. Suddenly he raised one eyebrow and said, "Well?"

"Huh?"

"I assume you knocked for a reason?" The other brow went up to join the first.

"Sorry, you've got a bit of ink right there..." Harry said distractedly, pointing at Viktor's right cheek. Viktor gave a halfhearted swipe at it and inspected his fingertips for an instant, then dropped his hand. It seemed all his fingertips on that hand were already smudged with ink. Harry thought it best not to mention that most of it was still there on his cheek too. "Err... I woke you?" Viktor's only response was to lean over to one side a bit, looking over Harry's shoulder to the corner desk, covered in open books and pieces of parchment. "Working on something?"

"Hermione did not tell you?" he asked at last.

"Tell me what?" Harry asked in return, casting a glance back over his shoulder.

"I haff a week to graduate. No, wait, less than that... what is today?" Viktor said, narrowing his eyes further.

"Friday..." Harry ventured cautiously.

"Three days then," Viktor said, leaning his head tiredly against the side of the armchair.

"Three days! I thought you had the rest of the year if you wanted it?"

"Not anymore," Viktor answered weakly.

"Why?"

"Umbridge," Viktor replied, as though that explained the whole thing.

"But the agreement was with Dumbledore!" Harry complained.

"No, really, it was with the Ministry. Everything goes through the Ministry now... and if I do not get finished on time, I become responsible for Umbridge becoming headmistress," Viktor said, sighing heavily. "Two days, really."

Harry made a mental note to ask Hermione for the details of this development instead. He didn't seem to be getting many details this way. "Why's it keep shrinking, when you just said three?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, Monday I haff to take both parts of the exam. No hope of really getting any real writing done then," Viktor said. "I need another scroll's worth, at least. Heaven knows if what I haff so far makes sense. Last night I caught myself writing a whole sentence in Russian. Two days... need to allow at least a day for proofreading and revision, finishing up the references...and I still haff to find time to sleep somewhere in there. Poor Hermione's stuck proofreading it." At last he shifted his dark eyes from the desk back to Harry. "What did you want again?" Viktor asked, not unkindly.

"Oh! To tell you that Cho talked to me! When I was coming back from practice!" Harry exclaimed.

"Sorry... is this a startling new development?" Viktor said, looking puzzled.

"Well... I mean, she's talked to me before, obviously, but she...she asked me on a date the next Hogsmeade weekend! Valentine's Day! What do I do?" Harry asked in a panicky tone.

"Say...yes?" Viktor said, sounding just as uncertain as Harry had earlier.

"Well, I already did that bit. I mean, what now?" Harry said impatiently.

"Go!" Viktor said so bluntly that at first, Harry took it for an immediate order and almost jumped out of the chair.

"But what do I do when we get there? Where do I take her? Do I try to kiss her or just talk to her or hold her hand and what do I need to do to make sure she has a good time and she doesn't think I'm a complete prat?" Harry asked in a rush.

"Avoid acting like a prat. As for the rest of it, remember what I said about barking up the wrong tree?" Viktor said slowly.

"But you're supposed to know these things! What to do with girls! All those girls that wanted to be with you..." Harry wailed.

"Those girls did not exactly want to be with me so much as they wanted to be with somebody... That was not what I was looking for. I do not know about girls, I know about Hermione. Figuring one out is about my limit. And I do not fool myself that I haff her completely figured out. I haff this method that works pretty well, though," Viktor replied, considering Harry.

"What?" Harry pounced on the opportunity.

"Talking to her. Works pretty well when the girl talks back. Why on earth would you think I haff all the answers? I know a grand total two females anywhere near your or my age well enough that I think I could predict their behavior five times out of ten. You want Alexei for this. Or are you sure you would not be better off talking to Hermione? Or how about Cho? She might haff a good idea of what she would like. Suck it up and talk to the girl, Harry," Viktor said flatly.

"But you can't just go asking a girl 'may I kiss you?' on a date!" Harry insisted.

The ghost of a smile flitted over Viktor's face, then was gone, leaving Harry to wonder what was so funny. "Why not?" Viktor asked, suddenly serious again.

"Well it... it... makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing!" Harry said indignantly.

"Do you?" Viktor asked softly.

"Well, no. But I don't want her to know that," Harry said sheepishly.

"Why lie? Just be who you are and try talking to her. She will either like you or not. No changing that. And do not think that looking like you know what you are doing is worth getting slapped. Better to ask. Ask Alexei, he got slapped plenty," Viktor said, closing his eyes and heaving another sigh.

"But she does these mad things and I don't know what to do and can't think what I want to say. The last time she talked to me in one of the unused classrooms, and she ended up bawling about Cedric...but she did kiss me and that was kind of nice and Hermione said I was an idiot for not talking to her some more and comforting her or something but I didn't know what to do. I mean, I patted her on the back a bit but I don't know what to do when a girl cries! I don't even know what to do when Hermione cries! Well, I mean...she's a girl, too, obviously, but it's Hermione, that's different... Viktor? Viktor?" Harry paused and studied Viktor for a moment, confirming his suspicion. Asleep. Harry blinked a few times and looked around the room. Ivan and Natasha trotted over, encouraged by Harry's eye contact and eager for a bit of attention. Feeling rather foolish and wanting something to do, he patted the both of them.

Harry was just about to leave as quietly as possible when a movement at the window caught his eye. It was a big, gray barn owl. Baramir. Harry moved to the window and slid it open. "Here, let me take that," Harry said, reaching to untie the roll of parchment around the owl's leg. He was rewarded with a hard nip on the finger. "Ow! I just want to get it off!" Harry jousted with Baramir for some minutes and finally managed to get the parchment off despite the wildly flapping wings and hooting. Harry thought it an awful racket, but Viktor never stirred. Baramir fixed him with one last reproachful glare and swept back out the open window. Harry moved to lay the letter on the desk when he paused. Why was Baramir so reluctant to give it to me? he thought to himself. The spidery writing on the parchment was unfamiliar. Eaten up by the curiosity, Harry guiltily checked to see that Viktor was still asleep.

He unrolled the piece of parchment and read

I hope this letter finds you well and enjoying your time at Hogwarts. Having done the research you requested, I regret to say that I can find nothing that seems to match the key words you provided other than the connection to the ancient Greeks you already cited. Perhaps if you can provide more of the context or the book where you encountered the words I can conduct another search. I assume you need this for your second research paper?

On your second request, I had more success. There are indeed recorded cases of wizards focusing power for higher spells through objects other than wands, but they are isolated. Full accounts of such cases are extremely rare, and they are all relegated to the status of "legend" or "uncorroborated". Scepters, glass spheres, rings, and other articles of jewelry were some of the objects mentioned as "objects of power" in these accounts. I can provide references and the passages later if you like and may even be able to send you a package of books if you feel more extensive research is necessary.

Third, the use of potions that restrict movement in combination with the Echomensa is workable, but risky. The dosage must be minimal enough to allow the person on the receiving end to communicate in some fashion, preferably speech. Hexes such as full body binds and the like are, of course, completely out of the question because of this. While one could argue that allowing the person on the receiving end to have unrestricted movement is more risky, that argument only holds water if the person administering the potion is a highly proficient potion maker who can calculate the correct dosage. This does no t even take into account the risk of damage should the person performing the spell return control too quickly or too slowly. If you are asking for this information for a passage on Ministry interrogation techniques for your thesis, I can recommend an excellent book that should be in the Hogwarts library as well. Glad to be of some small assistance.

Madame Durshenkova

Durmstrang

P.S. On the other piece of parchment is Mr. Gregorovitch's response.

Harry shuffled the pieces of parchment and read

Wandmaking is an honored craft that cannot be done justice in a mere paragraph or two, but the basic concepts I will attempt to convey here. A highly personal craft, all wandmakers have their own preferred techniques, but some things do not vary in quality wands. The shaft should be made of wood, a living material with characteristics and personality of its own. Trees represent life. For best results, cores are also taken from living sources, and their personalities also figure into the general character of the wand. A good wand should serve as a focal point for a wizard or witch's own powers. A good fit can only be attained by allowing a wand to "choose" its master or mistress. Therefore, most modern wandmakers follow this practice. It allows a wizard the chance to use a wand with a compatible "personality", thereby making best use of their powers. While I suppose it is theoretically possible for another object made out of natural materials of some sort to serve as a similar focus of a wizard's power, I am unaware of any craftsman actually trying it. Magical swords, capes, rings and the like tend to be made for very specific purposes only, not the general. For best results in general spellcasting, I should stick with wands.

Gregorovitch

Harry rolled the sheets of parchment back up and stood a moment, considering what to do. While he waited, Baramir flew back in the window, dropping a dead mouse into his open cage. Swooping across the room, he perched on the chair back and yanked roughly at Viktor's hair with his beak. Viktor swore softly under his breath before opening his eyes. "Ow! I hate it when you do that! Harry? Sorry...I fell asleep on you, did I?"

"Not long. Letter came for you...err... I just got it off," he said, passing him the letter.

"He let you? Normally, he does not take too nicely to other people taking my mail," Viktor murmured.

"Well, he didn't seem to happy about letting me have it. Anything...interesting?" Harry asked in a strained voice after Viktor had read for a few minutes.

Before answering, Viktor pressed his locket between two fingers, lifted it out of the neck of his robes, and considered it silently for a moment. He dropped it and gave a strand of his own hair a soft tug, as though thinking. "No. About what I expected. Not much of any use. I had Madame Durshenkova do a little research for me. I thought maybe Durmstrang's library would haff something a little more concrete... it is all still just theory and speculation. Oh, well," Viktor said, looking slightly dejected.

"Well, I guess I'll go... so you can get some sleep. Sorry I woke you earlier," Harry called on his way to the door.

"Never mind that. Sleeping on top of it was not doing any good. Desks are not too comfortable for sleeping anyway," Viktor said dismissively.

"Viktor?" Harry called back, hand on the knob.

"What?"

"Good luck if I don't see you before you take your exam."

"Thank you Harry. And Harry?"

"What?" Harry answered, holding his breath.

"Thank you for wishing me good luck too."