163 Revolations

Walking into Professor Babbling's office I see two large shelves full of thick books behind her. On her desk and floor around her are hundreds of papers strewn about with odd scribbles on them. The scribbles don't seem to be runes that I know of.

As I step in her head snaps up as if she never expected anyone to come into her office.

"Ah! Soren Black?" She asks appearing confused.

"Hello Professor, I had a question I was hoping you could answer."

She clears her throat as she sits up, "Of course, is it about the favorite rune assignment?"

"Kind of, while I was researching I found a rune that I didn't recognize. I searched through our Rune Dictionary but it was nowhere to be seen."

She gestures me over, "The dictionary has all of the conventionally used runes but any rune that is older than three thousand years is usually left out. That is primarily because we often don't know a whole lot about them. Come and show me, I will try my best to identify them."

I nod as I hand her the paper that I copied the rune to and stand next to her.

Her brows raise as she looks at the paper, "My, how interesting… Where ever did you find these?"

"The restricted section of the Library, I have special permission," I say lying through my teeth.

She nods as she ponders at the runes, "That makes sense, these are far older than anything I teach."

Pulling out her chair she gets up and walks over to the bookshelves. With a concentrated face she scans through the books until she finds one that appears to be bound in a pale leathery material. My eyes widen as I recognize the material immediately, it's human skin. I know that because Sid has a ton of them, I even have a few of them in my cloak right now.

The name of the books is written in runes I've never seen before. Professor B nods as she take the book to the desk and flips through it comparing the runes to the ones I gave her. Towards the end, she stops with a big grin on her lips, her finger points to a rune exactly like the lower one on the paper.

"AHA! I knew I had seen this before. This is the Sumerian rune for the underworld or 'land of the dead'. Sumerian runes are the most uncommon form of runes due to our lack of understanding and their lost meanings. The fact you found these two in a form obviously forming a spell is astounding."

My eyes narrow at her words, "What do you mean forming a spell?"

She ponders my words, "It would be better if I just described the whole rune to you. So this top rune is very common and used in many other runic languages, it is often interpreted as fertility or mother but it really means life-giver." On the paper, I gave her she draws a four-pronged F backward.

"Yours however is inverted, which is common when there isn't a word for something in that language. Often you will invert a rune of something opposite of it to express its meaning. Now the fact that it is connected to and above the underworld rune is a form of expressing ownership. The only odd thing is there is a rune for murderer so that obviously isn't what the creator intended. So they must mean something else."

I close my eyes as I lean back my head, "Could it mean 'Reaper'?"

Professor B pauses before clapping her hands, "Brilliant that fits perfectly, 'The Reaper who rules the Dead', that is the meaning of this rune. Now for the spell, if you were to give this rune 'life' it would probably kill the person who touched it, or at least send their soul beyond the veil."

With a silent sigh, I look back down at her, "Say you were to put this rune on a shield how well would that work?"

Professor B laughs a bit at my words, "That's impossible, the amount of skill and understanding in both Runes and Alchemy that would require would be ludicrous. No one alive other than say, Nicolas Flamel or perhaps Dumbledore could do such a thing."

I feel a bit of cold sweat down my back, "Say they could, how well would it work?"

"Well, it would probably be the best shield ever made for physical attacks. It would be incredibly resistant to spells even without additional enchantments and charms. Overall I think it would be an incredibly valuable artifact valued for ages to come."

"Thank you, professor, you've been a great help," I say with a thankful nod.

Professor B smiles, "Of course, it has been a while since someone has brought me something so interesting. Is there anything else you need?"

I shake my head, "No that will be all, see you on Monday."

"Close the door on the way out," she says as I head towards the door.

Once I am out of her office I close the door and stand there for a while. I try to work on in my head all the things that may have happened because of the change in my shroud. The Foe Glass is the primary thing I can think of, also the change in the dementors, perhaps the darkness changed them itself.

As I'm standing there thinking realization dawns on me.

'Did my shroud change the mandrake leaf I kept in my mouth? Is that why I got a death-related ability and not an animagus form?'

With quick steps, I walk to McGonagall's office ignoring all the people I pass. Once I reach the House Masters' office I knock on the door hoping to get a quick answer.

"Come in," I hear McGonagall's voice from inside.

Opening the door I see the spick and span office with a single bookshelf to the left and a desk piled with papers next to the House Master herself. McGonagall has a book in her hand as a quill is moving on its own grading paper as she reads.

"Hello, Housemaster," I say as politely as I can.

She gives me a small nod with her usually stern face, "Yes, Mr. Black."

"I have a question regarding the process of turning into an Ani-magus."

"We will be covering that later in the year, there is no reason to ask me now. Unless you are planning to do something less than legal."

I hold up my hands, "No, of course not, I just have a question about the mandrake leaf itself."

"Ask away," she says with raised brows and a scrupulous gaze.

With a nod, I ask, "If someone were to soak the mandrake leaf in an essence for the entire month they kept it in their mouth, what would happen?"

McGonagall scoffs, "They would be dead Mr. Black. It is improper to even use magic to keep it on the roof of your mouth, let alone a magical essence-based adhesive. If they were lucky enough to survive they would be permanently disabled and unable to use magic for the rest of their life."

Bitting my cheek I nod, "Thank your Housemaster."

She nods as she waves me out and goes back to reading. Without another word, I step out of the office and let out an annoyed sigh.

"I fucked up."