Chapter Twenty Three - Wards and Nudity

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!

Chapter Twenty Three - Wards and Nudity

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After their late breakfast, the three decided to head directly to the infirmary. They knew Madam Pomfrey was expecting them, and didn't want her to have to wait too long.

Just after they'd walked in together, the medi-witch came out of her office to greet them. And Luna walked in behind them.

"Good morning, you three," she said, with a wide smile before spotting Luna. "Four," she corrected.

She drew her wand and caused the main doors to close before a privacy ward went up.

Re-sleeving her wand, she asked, "I take it the three of you know why I called you to visit me, today?"

"You know," replied Hermione.

"That you sealed your bonds last night?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she said, "All three, from what I heard and felt."

"Heard and felt?" asked a now worried Harry.

"Yes," she replied. "You caused three pulses of magic with the last one enough to cause even the castle to shudder a little."

The three looked back a little horrified by that news, while Luna just looked pleased.

"Oh, don't fret so much about it," she chided them. "Word has it among the students that it was... what did they call it?... 'sonny booms', or something."

"Sonic booms?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, that was it," agreed the medi-witch.

"What's a sonic boom?" asked Daphne, confused.

"A sonic boom occurs when an object breaks the sound barrier," replied Hermione in semi-lecture mode. "That is, the object travels faster than what sound can travel at. If I remember correctly that's 767 miles per hour.

"When an object travels faster than that, such as what specialised fighter aircraft are known to be capable of, it causes a very loud crack sound and a shock wave. At long distances, if it's a large enough object that breaks the sound barrier, it sounds like a loud boom sound with a physical feeling of a shock wave, at the same time.

"So, if everyone heard a loud boom sound that sounded as if it came from a long way off; and they also felt as if the castle had... shuddered... then, yes; it would mimic the sound and feeling of a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier miles away."

Hermione, coming back to herself, saw her new husband looking at her with amusement, while two pure-blood witches looked back in complete shock. Luna didn't seem to think anything of it.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Muggles can go that fast?" asked Daphne.

"Oh, yes," replied Hermione. "And even much faster. However, they now try not to do it near populated areas. If they do it too close, the Air Force receives complaints from the civilians on the ground. Too close, and the force of the shock wave has been known to blow windows out of their frames and knock people who are outside, for instance, off their feet and to the ground."

"Well," said Madam Pomfrey, after a few moments. "Muggles never cease to amaze me."

Giving herself a little shake, she explained, "Now, the reason I asked you here is so I can see what your bonds look like."

"They're sealed, and they're strong," said Luna, coming forward. Looking to the three, she almost squealed, "I'm so happy for you!"

"Yes, well," said the medi-witch. "All three of you on beds and I'll take a look."

The three took beds side-by-side as Madam Pomfrey and Luna came forward.

Taking her wand out, Madam Pomfrey started with Hermione on her left. A few wand movements and she said, "Good, good." before moving on to Harry, next.

"Uh-hmm!" she muttered. Then she moved to Daphne.

"Hmm!" she exclaimed with a pleased little sound.

Stepping back she said, "Excellent. All three bonds are, as Miss Lovegood said, sealed. And it's a very strong sealing, too."

Thinking a bit as she looked at the three, she asked, "Tell me; do you feel anything different?"

"Contentment..." said Harry.

"Happiness..." said Hermione.

"Love..." added Daphne.

Looking between his bondmates, Harry said, "I don't think we can truly put it into words." Hesitating a moment longer while thinking hard, he said, "I feel happy and content because I know... know at the depths of my soul... that my ladies are happy and love me; and that we are meant to be together."

"Harry's right," said Hermione. "But I also know that what he said doesn't explain it near enough. However, it's about the closest we can come to explaining it... to put it into words for someone who isn't experiencing it to understand."

"Then I certainly hope you try your best to do so with that book I hope you're still writing," said the medi-witch.

"We are," replied Hermione. "And we'll do our best to put it into such words. We just know it won't be enough; though, we'll certainly try to get close."

"You won't be the first to make that admission," admitted the medi-witch. "In the literature I've read others have made the same claim. I had just hoped you'd have been able to shed better light upon it."

"We know we will," replied Hermione with a smile. "Harry's made some startling revelations about the nature of soul and body that we spent a lot of our time over the break writing down."

"Like?" asked Pomfrey.

"That we are not beings that have souls, as Harry put it. We're souls that have bodies," explained Daphne. "When you accept the truth of that, it starts to make a lot of other things that have confused people make sense."

Madam Pomfrey blinked a bit in surprise, before she finally said, "Yes, well, I look forward to reading what you've discovered."

The three grinned back.

"In the mean time, you're all free to go," she said. "However, I'll still occasionally ask you to come and see me again. Just because the literature we have states that the sealing of the bond means the bond no longer has a chance to fail, does not mean there's not other things going on."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey, we will," replied Hermione, as the three of them hopped off the beds.

As the three were about to leave, Madam Pomfrey called, "Oh, and Mister Potter?"

"Yes, Ma'am?" he asked.

"I hope you realise that, now that you're bonded to these two beautiful ladies, you'll need to back off on the number of risky activities you're often found involved in," she said.

"Yes, Ma'am," he grinned back.

While Madam Pomfrey and Harry had been talking, Hermione walked over and took Luna by the hand. "Are you free at the moment?" she quietly asked the younger Ravenclaw.

"Oh, yes," replied Luna.

"Care to join us in our apartment for a little while?" asked Hermione.

"I'd love to!" Luna happily exclaimed.

The four bid Madam Pomfrey their good byes and left through the now unsealed doors.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

While Hermione held Luna's hand, and Harry held Daphne's, the four headed back to their apartment.

As they walked along, Hermione quietly said to Luna. "We've had to change the password for Professor Whittaker."

"I know. Harry told me a few days ago," she replied.

"Good," replied Hermione. "I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you. I hope you don't think that meant we'd no longer welcome you to visit."

"No, I knew," replied the younger girl. "I've also been working on a way to stop listening charms from being able to work around places where passwords are spoken."

"Oh?" asked Hermione.

"It can be done with runes," answered Luna. "We create a permanent ward around and within listening distance to where you have to speak the password."

Hermione almost stumbled. "Of course!" she sighed. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"You've had more important matters on your mind," replied the girl, as if it was obvious. "You've been worried about whether or not you'd be successful in sealing the bond. And you were worried for Daphne."

With a short stop in the Ravenclaw common room while Luna collected her notes on creating an anti-spying ward for passwords, the four were soon enough back in the bondmates' living room.

Laying her notes on the coffee table, Luna explained her thinking about the ward she'd designed.

"That's... brilliant... and so simple," said Hermione with Daphne nodding in agreement.

"Here, Harry," she said, sliding the notes over opposite where Harry was sitting. "You'll see how Luna came to her thinking. And, how she selected what runes to use."

Harry quickly read through the notes and said, "Mmm," in agreement.

While the three girls discussed any changes they'd make, and how they'd apply the runes, Harry sat back and watched them.

It took them about an hour - during which he'd eventually pulled out his homework and worked through some of it while casting the odd glance their way - but they finally reached a conclusion.

"I think that's it," said Luna.

Both other girls nodded.

"Now we just need to work out where and how to set the runes," Luna continued.

"I think we should make it permanent," said Daphne.

"That would mean engraving them into the stones of the castle, itself," worried Hermione.

"And why not?" asked Daphne. "It's not as if this wouldn't be beneficial to everyone who makes this apartment their home after we leave."

"I just don't like the idea of making permanent engravings into the stones of such an antique as this castle," replied Hermione. "It almost feels like graffiti. Like I'm... despoiling such a lovely old monument."

"Merely walking on the stone floors causes wear and tear," argued Daphne. "Besides, if necessary, we can use magic to 'repair' the stone if we want to remove them later."

With a sigh, Hermione said, "I forgot about that."

"So, we do this?" asked Luna.

"We do," replied Daphne.

"And what did you eventually come up with?" asked Harry, speaking for the first time in a while.

"A ward scheme," replied Hermione.

"One that will make it impossible to employ the use of a certain type of charm and curse within the affected field," replied Daphne.

"Will it have a negative impact on, say, Professor Whittaker?" he asked.

"No, but we'll test it first, anyway," replied Hermione.

"I'll get the engraving tools," said Daphne, rising.

Once they had their three sets of engraving tools, they waited for Luna to collect hers from her trunk.

In the meantime, they waited outside the alcove holding Professor Whittaker. Hermione and Daphne then detailed the area they wanted the ward to cover, and started to lay out where to put the runes.

Eight boundary runes were being drawn in the passageway to give the shape of a box. They would use four at each point, one high and one low opposite each other; at one way down the passage, and four the same going the other way down the passage.

Inside the alcove, where they'd be nominally out of sight - unless you specifically went looking for them - were the control runes.

Hermione, with Daphne coming behind and checking, first drew each boundary rune in chalk. Harry was surprised by just how tiny they were drawn. Each was no more than about an inch in height.

"They're awfully small, aren't they?" he asked.

"They don't need to be any bigger," replied Daphne. "For a start, they'll be engraved into the very stone of the castle. Second, the area of affect isn't that big. And, third, the very magic of the castle itself will power it in perpetuity making it stronger."

While Hermione and Luna ducked into the alcove and started drawing the rune array to control and power it all, Daphne explained more about what the ward would accomplish.

"It'll block the use of listening charms and any other charm based on similar magic," she explained. "It'll also render the voice of the person muffled outside of the field, but not within; similar to a temporary silencing ward. While we were planning it, because some Ravenclaws used the Confundus charm on the eagle to block Luna getting inside the Ravenclaw common room, we've also added a block for that and similar charms; even if they're rune-based. There's also one to counter the effects of the Imperius curse, if someone walks into the field under the control of such. And, finally, a defensive ward that'll block anyone standing outside from immediately attacking you with hexes and curses, if you're within the field.

"If all this works... or, even most of it... we'll take it to Professors Flitwick and Babbling for use throughout the castle. I can see this used for the entrances of all four House common rooms, maybe the Headmaster's gargoyle, and every other apartment throughout the castle. Then we'll ask about moving on to doing the corridors, then the unused classrooms.

"Oh, and Luna really is brilliant. Most of this is her work. Hermione and I just added or tweaked it a little."

"But, how does it target just cast wanded magic directed at another, and not wanded magic that isn't so cast?" he asked.

"'Ill-intent' is one avenue the runes block; and another is that all curses and the like have the same arithmantic fundamental equation, so was an easy target for the runes to block," she explained

"We're ready!" Luna sing-songed. "And, remember: Don't banish the stone dust as you carve. We'll need it if we have to repair a section or rune and start again. We can banish it after we know it all works."

"Yes, Professor Lovegood," Harry sing-songed right back.

That earned him a giggle from the younger girl and a harrumph of, "Really, Harry!" from Hermione.

As their fastest carver, Hermione worked on the runes within the alcove while Harry and Daphne worked on the ones out in the passageway. She then switched out with Luna to take a break every now and then. Annoying Hermione but amusing Luna, Professor Whittaker kept offering his own advice and suggestions.

They had only just begun carving when Hermione called a halt.

"Why?" asked Luna.

"It's lunch time," she replied.

"Oh!" the younger girl said sadly.

"We'll come back to it straight after lunch, Luna," she offered.

"I'd like that," the girl said back.

Harry and Daphne collected the tools they were using and then banished the steps they'd conjured to reach high enough on the walls to have the runes be relatively out of sight, before putting them on the coffee table in their living room.

"This is going to take all afternoon," said Harry, as he walked with Daphne hand-in-hand while Hermione and Luna brought up the rear.

"Yes," replied Daphne. "But, once it's in place and working, we never have to worry about it again. Therefore, it's worth the effort."

"Have something else planned for this afternoon, Harry?" asked Hermione, cheekily.

Not falling for it, he replied, "Yes. I was thinking of going to see if I could find myself another wife. I don't know if I'm going to be happy with only two."

"Why you..." Hermione began.

Suddenly, Harry felt the impact of a stinging hex right to the left butt cheek. "Yiii!" he exclaimed, practically leaping forward and into the air while his left hand came around to cup the affected area.

Luna's tinkling laugh rang out while Harry spun on the spot, rubbing his bum and cried, "Uncle! You win! I'm sorry!"

"Keep up with those sorts of jokes and you'll be sleeping on the couch," she firmly said.

Stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her he said, "You never have to fear that sort of thing really happening from me, love," he softly said. "I love you and Daphne both and I'm never going to look elsewhere, alright?"

"I know," she sighed. "Just... don't even joke about it, okay?"

"Never again; I promise," he said before kissing her.

"I thought we were going to lunch?" asked Daphne.

"Yes, we are," he replied stepping away and, again, taking her hand.

The four continued to walk to the Great Hall with Harry vowing to himself to never make a joke of that sort of thing again.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After a quiet lunch, the four returned to the passageway and returned to working on engraving the runes.

After he'd finished the first one, and having Daphne check it to make sure it was good enough, he dropped down to the one low down near the floor.

After having seen a number of Ravenclaws come up the stairs and walk into the common room, he said to Daphne, "Have you seen how many Claws have walked by just down the passage and none have paid attention to what we're doing?"

"I put up a Notice-me-not charm across the whole passageway, Harry," she replied.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That was a good idea."

She just smirked back for a moment before returning to her work on her own low to the floor rune.

When the two were finished, they each checked the work of the other before going down the passageway to the other side of the alcove. There, they again conjured steps to reach up high on the walls, and began to carve.

They were finished about five minutes before the evening meal began. Then they just needed to wait until the control runes were done.

Having a look for himself, Harry could see Hermione and Luna were about two thirds of the way through. But, he couldn't work out why they were carving in the order they were.

"Why those ones in that order?" he asked.

"Doing it this way will allow us to bring up each of the various components of the wards in a select order," explained Luna. "Now that you have the boundary runes completed we can start to bring up the various fields."

Hermione stepped back from finishing the last rune she'd been working on, while Luna stepped forward and checked it.

"First, we're bringing up the listening and similar charms block ward," Hermione continued with the explanation. "Then will come the anti-Confundus charm ward. Next will be the anti-hex and curse ward. Then we'll bring the silencing part up. And, finally, the anti-Imperius ward. The last one is the one we're not so sure about, so we want to add it last. Besides, we're not, legally, allowed to use Imperius on ourselves. So, we're not actually allowed to test it. We'll have to get Ministerial approval to test that."

"When will we be ready to test?" he asked.

"We've just finished the last rune needed in the array for the first one," explained Luna, stepping back. "We'll let it charge while we're at dinner, and test it when we come back."

"In that case," cut in Daphne. "If you two are done for now, please step out of the way so we can enter and get cleaned up. Luna, you're welcome to join us to clean up."

"Thank you," she said, stepping out of the way.

Once Hermione was also clear, she looked at the statue and said, "The Headmaster is a manipulative old fool, Professor."

The statue smiled back and stepped out of the way. And the four entered the apartment, dropping off their tools onto the coffee table before heading into the bathrooms to get cleaned up.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

After dinner, the four were excited to return to their rune work. Hermione immediately went to the wall where Dumbledore had left his listening charm and checked for it, again. With a smile, she stepped back and said, "It's gone."

"So, either that part of the ward works, or Dumbledore's removed it," sighed Harry a little in relief.

"No, I checked it before we left for dinner and it was still there," corrected Hermione. "He would not have had the time to come and remove it and still be seen by us in the Great Hall right through dinner."

She then performed a quick scan of the area and said, "It's not been replaced, either."

"Then, let's finish this," said Daphne giving the password to the Professor and stepping inside.

Hermione and Luna gathered their tools and stepped back outside while Harry and Daphne sat down with the various notes and sketches of what they'd planned to do.

"Alright, let's clean these up," suggested Daphne. "Your handwriting is still not the best, so you work on the sketches and I'll rewrite the notes."

"Agreed," nodded Harry.

Harry had carefully redrawn the sketches and handed each to Daphne to check. When she determined each was accurate she set it aside and marked it as an attachment to her, main, notes.

As he was working, she explained, "I've put down Luna as both Team Leader and creator of the original idea. Hermione, you and I are listed as Team Members. I've also included who came up with what idea, and who solved it."

Harry looked up and smiled. "You're looking to make this a project for extra credit," he said. "If nothing else, it should see Luna receive an Outstanding Plus for Runes."

"Of course," she replied. "It's worth it, too. If it's accepted by Professor Babbling we should be able to convince Professor Flitwick to apply the same to the Ravenclaw Eagle."

Daphne went out to see if she could help Luna and Hermione, only to find they were doing the last few clean up carves, cleaning the edges of the ones they'd already finished.

Looking up at the statue, Luna asked, "Are you still with us, Professor? We haven't done something to negatively impact you, have we?"

"No, Miss Lovegood. I'm fine," replied the statue.

"Good, I was a little worried for you," she said. "There was always a chance..."

"Never fear, my dear," replied the statue calming her down. "I would have let you know if there was a problem."

Once they were finished and every one had cleaned up again, as she collapsed onto a couch Hermione said, "Phew! I'm glad that's done."

"How long before we can check they're working?" asked Harry.

"Tomorrow morning," she replied. "Just to be sure."

"How come so long?" he asked.

"You need to give the array time to fully charge," replied Luna. "If it was only powering one part it would have charged in only an hour or two at most. However, because it needs to charge for a lot more than that, it'll take a lot longer. That's why we should wait until tomorrow morning to properly test it."

Daphne picked up the notes and sketches she and Harry had done and passed them off to Luna. "As you're Team Lead for this project, I think you should be the first to take a look at these.

A little puzzled at first, Luna accepted the report and started reading through it. As she read and flicked through the drawings, her eyes got wider and wider.

"You... these..." she tried, almost in tears.

"Those," said Daphne, indicating the notes, "Should see you receiving an Outstanding, at least, for your Ancient Runes class."

"Thank you," the girl quietly replied.

"After we check the array first thing in the morning to confirm everything's working to specifications, I think you should hand those notes over to Professor Babbling," said Daphne. "It's brilliant work. And it's all because of your initial idea and concepts."

"You'll need a copy," Luna quickly replied.

"I already have one," replied Daphne, indicating the small pile of parchment still on the coffee table. She then picked it up and handed it off to Hermione, who avidly read through it, just as she read through everything.

"There's no changes I can see should, or could, be made," murmured Hermione, once she'd finished and was looking closely at the sketches. Pulling her head away and giving it a little shake, she said, "No. It's perfect as it is."

Looking to Daphne and Harry she said, "Good job, you two."

After Luna had left to return to the Ravenclaw tower, with a good night bid to the statue on her way past, Harry turned to his wives and brightly asked, "Bed?" before adopting a morose expression and asking, "Or do you want to work on homework, first?"

Daphne laughed but Hermione smirked and said, "Homework. And don't pull that face, husband."

Knowing it was already a lost argument, Harry collected his assignments and sat down to get them knocked over. He hoped they would only dedicate about an hour to it. After all, all three made sure they'd had just about all of their homework completed and ready to be handed in before they sat for dinner the previous night.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

The next morning, Sunday, the three were woken by Luna walking into their room and climbing up onto the bed.

Harry was woken by a cry of, "Luna!" from Hermione, causing him to suddenly flip to his back before sitting bolt upright in bed.

He had to wipe his eyes a couple of times before he saw that Luna was calmly sitting cross-legged on the foot of the bed. Hermione was also sitting upright but was trying to hold the covers up to cover her bare breasts while staring back in shock at Luna.

"What're you doing in here?" asked a near-whining Hermione.

"I came in to wake you up because Dobby wouldn't," she calmly replied.

"But... we're naked!" exclaimed Hermione. "We could have been... doing things!"

"You weren't," replied Luna. "But, if it's you being naked and me not that has you concerned..."

She reached down and grasped the bottom hem of her jumper and began to pull it up when Hermione realised what she was going to do. "No!" she cried, reaching forward with one hand as if she could reach the girl and physically stop her.

Luna stopped with her top halfway up her torso, and looked back. "It's not as if Harry hasn't seen the nude female form, Hermione. After all, he's seen yours and Daphne's," she explained in a quite reasonable voice.

"Yes, but..." Hermione tried.

"My being in the nude won't unnecessarily sexually arouse him, either," Luna continued. "His bond with you is far too strong. If anything, he'll want to have sex with you, again."

"Yes, but..." Hermione tried again.

"He'll show interest. That's because he hasn't seen me nude before. But you won't have to worry about him having sex with me."

"Luna..." Hermione whined again.

Harry just watched the byplay, quite amused.

Meanwhile Daphne had groaned, annoyed at the noise, and sat up in bed, herself. Unlike Hermione, she shifted her pillows so she could lean back against them. The covers remained around her waist.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Luna's being logical and it's confusing the Hell out of Hermione," replied Harry.

"No! That's not it!" Hermione spun on them. "It's that she calmly walked in here, sat on the bed and began taking her clothes off."

"No, it's because she came in here and you were worried she might have come in here when we were engaged in hot, passionate sex. That we weren't has no bearing on it for you," corrected Harry. "She only offered to take her clothes off to let you feel more comfortable."

"Hermione, why are you covering your breasts?" asked Luna, suddenly. "I live in a girl's dorm, remember. Up until the start of this year, so did you."

"Because..." Hermione tried. "Because..." she tried again. With a huff she practically yanked the covers back down to her waist.

"I was surprised, is all," she almost growled out.

"Then, I'm sorry I surprised you," Luna solemnly replied. "It was not my intent."

"Why are you in here?" asked Daphne.

"To wake you up. I asked Dobby to, but he wouldn't," replied Luna.

"And why did you want us to wake up?" asked Daphne.

"To check on the wards, of course!" she brightly replied, as if it was obvious to anyone. "I can't do it on my own. It needs someone to stand within the warded area, and someone to stand outside of it."

"Of course," said Daphne, as if the answer was obvious. Suddenly, she swept back the bedding from her side and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Standing, nude, she said, "It looks like there's no sex for you this morning, husband." And headed for the ensuite.

"What?" exclaimed Harry. "Noooo... The morning's not over, yet!"

Turning before she walked into the ensuite, Daphne calmly said, "I'll not ask Luna to wait outside while we engage in sexual intercourse." Then, walked in.

With a sigh, Harry turned to Hermione and began, "Herm..."

"No!" Hermione shrilly barked back before he could even finish her name. "The same applies for me."

Luna suddenly said, "The nargles have suggested I have sex with Harry for you, while you shower and get dressed, Hermione. Would that be alright with you?"

Hermione started gaping like a fish with her eyes bugged out staring back at Luna. Harry just roared with laughter because he knew Luna was just teasing her.

"Nooo!" Hermione finally half-shrieked.

It wasn't until Luna impudently grinned back that Hermione realised she'd been pranked.

"Why... You... I..." she tried, before she took a deep breath and barked, "Out! You can wait in the living room until we're dressed!" she hissed.

Flicking a grin to Harry, Luna calmly climbed off the bed and walked back to the door. Just before she was about to walk out, and as Hermione swung her legs to the floor, she turned back and said, "You know, I think I might be a lesbian, after all. Because, I think you have very lovely breasts, Hermione." And smirked.

Hermione picked up a pillow, shrieked, "Out!" and threw it at Luna as the younger Ravenclaw quickly stepped out the door.

Harry flopped back on the bed and roared with laughter again as the door closed with a thunk/click.

Spinning about while standing nude, Hermione picked up a second pillow and proceeded to beat on Harry with it. "It wasn't funny!" she barked.

"Yes, it was," he shot back, giggling, once he could draw proper breath.

With a huff she tossed the pillow onto the bed, took a moment to glare at him again, and stormed off to the ensuite.

After a final bout of giggling, Harry climbed off the bed and walked into the ensuite, too.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

A quick shower with no hanky-panky and the three were quickly dressed and walking into the living room.

Hermione was still a little annoyed with Luna and let it show by quietly glaring at the girl. It didn't seem to faze the young girl any, though. So, Hermione's glares were wasted.

Daphne asked her, "Have you checked to see if the charging runes are fully charged?"

"Yes, and they are," replied Luna.

"Well let's go test what we can before heading for breakfast," suggested Daphne.

Once outside, Harry stood back a little from the statue and asked it, "Can you hear me, Professor?"

"I most certainly can, young master," the statue replied.

"Does it sound a little muffled and low in volume to you?" he asked.

"No, not at all," replied the statue.

"Is the ward affecting you in any way?" he asked.

"I can sense it's there; but, that's all," replied the Professor. "It does not negatively impact upon me."

"Well, that's one worry we no longer need to be concerned about," said Harry to the others.

Hermione had started to slowly back away and said, "Start talking or singing or something and don't stop until I tell you to."

Harry started singing. "It's a world of laughter, a world or tears; it's a world of hopes, it's a world of fear; there's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all.

"It's a small world..."

Hermione suddenly held her hand up and Harry immediately stopped. She then took half a pace back and asked, "Can you still hear me?"

He nodded back.

She then turned to look at the walls and saw the runes were a good couple of feet inside where she could suddenly no longer hear Harry.

Walking back into the field she said, "Good. The ward boundary is a good couple of feet beyond the runes. That means it goes right to the floor, at least."

Drawing her wand she cast at Harry. "Confundus!" she cried.

With a frown he asked, "Don't you think you should have asked, first?"

"You teased me, this morning," she replied. "Consider this payback."

Suddenly she snapped her wand back at him again. And again, nothing happened.

"What this time?" he asked.

"A stinging hex," she replied.

Drawing his own wand with a smirk, Hermione started to look a little worried. He held his wand before himself and cried, "Tempus!" as Hermione jumped sideways in fright.

The red glowing digits of the actual time glowed just above his wand as he smirked at her.

"You prat!" she grouched.

"At least we know the ward doesn't affect those sorts of charms," he shrugged, still smirking before banishing the time.

"How's the charging wards, Daphne?" Hermione called to the other girl.

"No change. Not even a blip," replied Daphne.

"Alright, let's try something stronger," said Harry. Incantless, he raised a Protego shield and held it.

"That works," he said. "Hermione would you do the honours and cast a couple of mid-level curses and hexes at me?"

With Harry's shield held between them, Hermione began casting curses. "Reducto!... Bombarda!... Stupefy!" she cried.

Harry's shield held through it all, and there was no light to show a curse had been cast.

"Daphne?" asked Hermione.

"No change," replied a quite smug Daphne. "But there was just the faintest blip as you said each three, and were only there for a moment. The charging runes had recharged before you cast your next one."

"That just leaves the Imperius block ward, right?" asked Harry.

Hermione walked to the wall and attempted to cast a listening charm onto it. It failed. "Yep. That's it bar the Imperius," she said with a big sigh of relief before grinning.

She turned to Luna and said, "Very well done, Luna. It works."

Luna was clearly happy with the praise and asked, "Does that mean I can turn the report in to Professor Babbling now?"

"It does," replied Hermione.

With a squeal she almost leapt into Hermione's arm to give the older girl a huge hug. Then she hurried over to Daphne and did the same. Finally, she jumped into Harry's arms and hugged him.

Stepping back she exclaimed, "I cannot wait to hand the report to Professor Babbling! She'll be ever so pleased."

"Why not see if you can hand it to her at breakfast, this morning?" asked Daphne.

"I'll do that," she said. "But, I've left it in my trunk."

"Go get it," suggested Daphne. "We'll wait."

While they waited for the young girl outside the Ravenclaw entrance, Harry was looking around.

"Trying to think of where to put the boundary runes, love?" asked Hermione with a smirk.

Harry grinned back and said, "Yep."

Daphne raised her hand and pointed. "There, there, there and there," she said before turning the other direction. "And, there, there, there and there,"

Both Hermione and Harry paid attention to where she was pointing. They couldn't disagree.

"Nice," said Harry.

When Luna returned they were discussing where to engrave the control runes.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

For a Sunday, breakfast in the Great Hall seemed a little crowded.

"It's not," replied Luna when Harry pointed it out. "You're just used to being down here earlier."

As the four were about to sit at the Ravenclaw table, Luna gave a little squee sound before she excitedly said, "Professor Babbling's here. I'll just go and see if she'll accept the report before I sit for breakfast." Then hurried off to the head table.

While Harry was busy digging in to hash browns, friend tomatoes on toast, and bacon; and was washing it down with a cup of tea; Hermione kept suggesting adding an egg 'dish' to his meal. She just couldn't understand he just didn't feel like eggs, that morning. Luna returned.

"She accepted it," she gleefully reported. The girl turned to look at the head table, for a moment, before she turned back and said, "She's even reading it, now."

Harry glanced at the head table and watched as Dumbledore was scanning his breakfast and other food before him.

Chuckling, he turned to see if the twins were down for breakfast. Seeing them, he grinned and indicated with his eyes the Headmaster. They, too, had seen the old man's antics and were quietly chuckling to themselves.

They were about to wrap up breakfast and head back to the apartment when Professor Babbling intercepted them. Professor Babbling was a young witch, compared to most of the teaching staff. But, that was because she attained her Mastery at such a young age.

"Good morning, you four," she said.

"Good morning, Professor," they chirped back.

"Would you mind walking with me to my office?" she asked. "I've just been over Luna's report and I have a few questions."

"In that case," interrupted Hermione. "Instead of your office, would you mind if we escorted you to our apartment? It's just that we have a working model of what's in the report, there, and we can't bring it down."

"Very well," the Professor agreed with a nod. "Lead the way."

Once in the corridor outside their apartment, Luna and Hermione described the control runes. Then Daphne showed them the small boundary runes that were not normally noticeable because they were not in a normal line of sight.

Once they'd shown the runes they demonstrated that they worked. Of course, the only one they couldn't demonstrate was the anti-Imperius ward. However, both Hermione and Daphne assured her it should as it was based on the same rune concept as the anti-Curse ward.

"But, how do you get it to differentiate between a hex and, say, a shield?" she asked.

"There're two halves to it," replied Luna. "One is that the shield isn't a 'travelling' spell. That is, it's not designed to go from point A to point B. It's designed to form roughly where the wand tip creates it. The second part is intent. It's not intended to harm.

"However, if a spell meets both those conditions, then it's blocked by the ward and negated before it even leaves the tip of the wand."

"And if it's cast into the warded area from outside?"

The three looked at one another before Hermione stalked beyond the boundary. Spinning about, she stared at Harry for a moment before he drew his own wand and cast a shield.

"Reducto!" she cried. It flashed out of her wand but died as soon as it hit the ward boundary.

"Well, that answers that question," said the Professor. As Hermione walked back into the warded area, the Professor said, "This is amazing work, you four." And, turning to Luna, she said, "Keep up your normal exemplary work in my class and there's an Outstanding Plus in this for you, Miss Lovegood. This," she said, waving the report in her hand, "Assures it."

With a bit of a squeal, Luna jumped forward and wrapped the Professor's waist in a hug. "Thank you!" she gushed.

Amused, the Professor waited for Luna to get it out of her system. "Yes, well," she said. "I want to show this to a few other members of staff. Do you mind if I do that?"

"Professor Flitwick is alright," said Harry. "We'd like to know from him if we can set up the same ward scheme for the area outside the Ravenclaw common room entrance. But, we're not ready for the Headmaster to hear about it yet."

"Professor McGonagall?" she asked.

"As long as she promises not to go running to the Headmaster about it; yes, that'll be alright," replied Daphne.

"She won't," replied the Professor with a bit of a forced smile.

Harry wondered what was going on there. Had the staff become more aware of Dumbledore's manipulations, and were beginning to baulk at them?

The Professor left a little while later.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ

When a knock on his office door was heard, while he was currently working on grading assignments, Professor Flitwick called, "Enter!"

Professor Babbling stepped in and closed the door behind her.

Surprised by the visit from his colleague, Professor Flitwick said, "Bet! This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you to visit an old wand-waver such as myself?"

With a matching smile, Bathsheba Babbling walked over and sat in the chair her diminutive colleague offered her.

"I've just come from a very interesting discussion and demonstration from four of your 'Claws," she replied.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yes. Are you aware some of your 'Claws had been up to no good by Confunding the Eagle guardian to the Ravenclaw common room?" she asked.

With a frown hovering near a scowl, the Charms Professor replied, "I was aware that it had been going on. However, I believe I'd managed to stop that by punishing all the culprits."

"Oh, it hasn't happened recently, as far as I'm aware, Filius," Bet replied. "But, that it had happened led to the development by Miss Lovegood of a way to stop it from ever happening again."

"Oh?"

With a nod, she explained, "Young Miss Lovegood then took her idea to Miss Greengrass, Miss Granger and Mister Potter. They then told her that they had found a listening charm affixed to the wall next to the Alcove that contained the entrance to their apartment. They believe it was put there by Albus.

"Clever," said Filius, but still clearly upset that Dumbledore had done something like that.

"Mmm," replied Bet. "So, the four of them set to work, starting with Miss Lovegood's initial concept, and developed the most amazing ward scheme.

"The main two purposes are to block the Confundus charm and the use of listening and other monitoring charms," she explained. "However, they then took it further and added a workable anti-Curse and Hex ward that works on spells that are cast; that travel from one point to another while allowing charms that don't travel, or are not intended to harm, to still work.

"However, the surprising thing is, they also believe they've developed an anti-Imperius curse ward that they've added to it."

"They what?" he exclaimed with a near squeaky voice.

The witch then handed her Charms colleague the documentation Luna had handed her that morning.

The little Professor eagerly took the documentation and began reading through it as if it was worth ten times its weight in gold.

While he was reading, he almost absent-mindedly called a house elf to serve them tea. And Bet sat back and enjoyed her tea while watching her colleague read.

When he'd finished he sat the document on the desk before him and looked in wonder at his colleague. "It works?" he asked.

"It does," she replied with a small nod. "The only part we cannot test is the anti-Imperius component. However, their reason, as written there, gives it a strong likelihood it'll work."

"This is NEWT level work," he said.

"Beyond NEWT," she corrected. "Merlin! If the anti-Imperius ward works, it's beyond Mastery. However, I've not told them that."

"Why ever not?" he asked.

"Because, I don't want them to think about how hard something is to do, just go ahead and do it," she explained. "If they're not told something is either improbable to accomplish, if not impossible, they won't be hindered by the knowledge."

"Simply amazing," sighed the little Professor, sitting back and sipping his tea, thinking. "I believe there was a muggle general centuries ago... Alexander, I think... who was not told it was impossible to cross the Alps in winter. So, he went ahead and did it."

She thought about that for a moment before she said, "Same idea; yes."

"Those four seek your permission to set the same ward set around the Ravenclaw common room entrance," she continued. "They hope to eventually be allowed to set them around the entrance of each of the four Houses, then move on to the personal staff offices and then the various apartments.

"Our three bonded were quite incensed that the Headmaster had set a listening charm to listen to what their password was. They've changed it now, of course. And, with the ward, another cannot be placed."

Sitting up straight, Filius said, "I think I'd best go and have a look at this ward of theirs."

"By all means," she replied. "I believe they're in their apartment, studying. However, I won't be able to accompany you. I, too, have assignments to grade."

With a smile the little Professor stood, handed the report back to her and escorted the Runes Mistress to the door of his office. "Take care, Bet," he said. "I'll speak to you soon."

"You, too, Filius," she said, before leaving.

Quickly, the little Professor set his office to rights and locked his door as he stepped out; placing a password protected locking charm on it as he did so. Then he practically jogged up to the Ravenclaw tower area before walking across to the entrance to the bondmates' apartment.

Before approaching the statue he quickly looked around for the runes, finding them tinier than he expected but exactly where the report said they'd be. "Eight!" he muttered. "Highly unusual. I wonder if it's the number of them that makes it work so well."

Returning to the alcove he said to the statue, "Hello, Wilford."

"Hello, Professor," replied the statue with a smile.

"Could you please let your guests know I wish to see them?"

"Of course," the statue replied before it stepped aside and knocked on the door.

Inside, the three were working on their transfiguration homework when they heard the knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" said Harry, rising from his work and going to the door.

Opening it, he was greeted by Professor Flitwick.

Professor!" Harry happily exclaimed before stepping aside. "Come in, please."

"Hello Professor," both girls said.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, sir?" asked Daphne.

"I've just had a most amazing discussion with Professor Babbling," he said. "Plus, she allowed me to read that report you three and Miss Lovegood wrote."

"Your views?" asked Daphne, perking up.

"As I told you," replied the Professor. "Simply amazing. I've come to ask if you can demonstrate it for me."

"We'd love to!" beamed Hermione. She'd always favoured the little Professor, thinking of him as a rather boyish favourite uncle.

All four again left the apartment and stood in the Hall. This time Daphne and Hermione described the ward and its various facets before demonstrating them.

By the time they'd finished, the little Charms Master was almost jumping up and down, giddy with glee.

"So, Professor," began Harry. "We wanted to ask your permission to..."

"Yes!" the Professor said, before Harry had even asked the question. "You can set up a similar ward outside the Ravenclaw common room entrance. I heartily approve!"

With a snort, Harry looked to his wives and said, "Well, that was easy."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

ˇ