Chapter 25 act 3 3/4: Falling or Flying

Monday morning, Harry walked toward the Great Hall thinking about experiments he needed to perform. Conservation of energy is such an important law in physics; it has to hold for magic too. If he could calculate the energy mysteriously produced by different spells, maybe it correlates with the magical effort expended by those spells. Maybe he could quantify magical energy; measure how much he and others held. From there he could calculate the magical power a wizard absorbed from the environment. If it were a constant in a given location, it could be used to measure the local ambient magical field strength-

But this set of experiments had a flaw much like his first set: a beautiful plan of research based on a premise he had not yet tested, much less verified. He didn't intend to make that mistake twice.

"...looking forward to Hogsmeade. I need a break from..."

Most students talk about such trivial, boring things. It's a good thing he met Hermione when he did, despite how annoying she could be.

Hermione- Maybe Hermione was a poor choice of test subject for his initial magical experiments, due to her strong belief in the correctness of the information in books. It shouldn't have mattered because she hadn't known the spells beforehand, but that was another assumption. Maybe the results would be different for someone who believed intent was the only important part of casting magic. Perhaps he should ask her to conduct a similar set of experiments around a different set of spells with himself as the test subject. Or maybe Draco would be interested...

"...finished your transfiguration homework yet? I don't get what Prof..."

Transfiguration. That's such a fascinating area of magic. He should really design a set of experiments to test its true abilities and limitations. Clearly, people could transfigure things without knowing every detail of what they were making. Could he transfigure something no one had made before (first priority: nanofactory)? More disturbingly, where was the intelligence that knew the details the wizard did not? What 'remembered' the original form and un-transfigured objects?

"...know you like Cedric. You should talk to..."

More pointless student conversations. So distracting. Anyway, hidden intelligences... maybe he should return to experimenting with his pouch; he had never come to a firm conclusion about how it worked, but it seemed to have at least some kind of rudimentary intelligence running it. Working with artificial intelligence could be very dangerous, and Harry doubted wizards had thought deeply about those ramifications. It could be important to quickly determine how far they had gotten.

"...going to jump off the tower, we should take feather-falling potions first..."

Maybe he'd start by listing magical objects, spells, etc. that required a hidden, non-trivial intelligence to- Wait, what?

Harry stopped and walked backward to where Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan where talking at the Gryffindor table. "...get feather-falling potion from Hogsmeade for us?"

"Excuse me", Harry began, "I thought I overheard a more interesting conversation than normal. You guys planning something fun?"

"Since when are you interested in anything besides reading and homework?", Dean asked. "You've never wanted to play anything before."

"Maybe he's planning to go to McGonagall or Sprout?", Seamus added. "Maybe he's hoping he can win some more precious house points."

Okay, he understood the homework comment, but when had he gotten a reputation as a snitch? The Gryffindors had all loved Harry after his first class with Snape. That sure hadn't lasted long.

Harry sighed. "Like I said, it sounded interesting. Something about maybe wanting feather-falling potion before jumping off a tower. That implies you intend to fly off the tower somehow, but want a safety in case something goes wrong. Maybe you found a spell for enchanting flying brooms? No, we fly every week anyway and you wouldn't need the tower." Harry thought for a moment while they waited, bemused. He continued, "You're not really going to fly, just fall. And primarily intend to use something besides the potion. I don't expect wizards would have many things like that when there are already flying brooms and feather-falling potions. But there are muggle things, like bungee cords, parachutes, and gliders." He saw surprise in their expressions, "gliders it is then. I'm in."

"Yeah, I was telling Seamus about muggle technology. He didn't believe they can fly. So we're going to try to transfigure a hang-glider."

"I'm still not convinced muggles can fly. So potions or no potions, you're going first."

"Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun. I'm totally in", Harry repeated.

"And why, exactly should we let you tag along?", Seamus smirked.

"One, I have feather-falling potion already", Harry pulled a vial out of his pouch and gestured with it as he continued. "Two, I know some third years who would probably be willing to help with the transfiguration. That would be a really big job for first years. And three, I have an aerodynamics book that, while it's mostly about airplane design, I'm pretty sure has a detailed picture of a hang-glider. And the equations to figure out some of the details." Harry paused. "You know what, I don't know why I should let you guys tag along with me."

"Let's not make any quick decisions", Dean said. "You've made some good points, but do you really think you can transfigure something that works right from just a picture in a book? I think we can work together on this."

"Playing with muggle flying machines?" Terry Boot asked, having heard a most of the conversation while standing nearby. "I expect crazy things like that from Gryffindors but from you... never mind."

"Well, then you're not invited", Dean said. He then stuck out his tongue at Terry.

Terry rolled his eyes and waved dismissively, "Like I would trust a muggle flying machine. And why? They can't be as good as brooms, so what's the point?"

Harry's mind marked this subject as boring and asked, "I've been wondering; how exactly does feather-falling potion work? What does it do? Maybe we should do a few experiments..."

"You're not worried about what will happen to the universe this time, Harry?", Terry smirked.

"How would a falling potion affect the universe, Terry? That's just silly", Harry answered.

Dean and Seamus glanced at each other and frowned. "What do you mean, experiment?" asked Seamus.

"Does it reduce your terminal velocity or your acceleration or both? When does it start doing that? What happens if you take half a dose? We weigh less than the average adults these potions are intended for. Do children fall more slowly or can we fall over a longer distance? How far can you use it to fall anyway? And how long will it still work after you take one: If I'd taken one during the first week, and hadn't fallen until now, would it still protect me?"

"Oh, they're good for about 30 minutes. I don't think there's a distance limit: I think you can fall for the whole 30 minutes if you start high enough. I don't know if anyone's done it though. I don't know about children; why would weight matter?" Seamus answered.

"To put it simply, it takes less effort to hold up light things than heavy things; that's what weight means. I haven't figured out the pattern for when size and weight matter to magic, so we should test this. Maybe give a dose to a small animal and drop it from a broom..."

"Hey, Kevin, mind if we give your cat a feather-falling potion", Dean called excitedly, snatching the potion vial from Harry and running a short distance over to Kevin Entwhistle. "We want to check something."

"That seems like a waste", Kevin responded. "Cats can already turn and land safely when they fall from most heights." His eyes widened as he continued, "unless you think the combination will make a cat fall up, roll upside-down, then fall down, then turn right-side-up again, repeating until it spins in place faster and faster."

"That sound like something muggles say about buttered toast attached to a cat's back", Harry interjected. "But it's a joke; the universe doesn't really work that way. Magic doesn't always respect common sense, but still... Never mind, I don't know what will happen; that's the point of testing things." That was all the encouragement Dean needed to empty the vial of feather-fall potion into the saucer of milk Kevin had prepared for his cat.

After it finished drinking a moment later, Kevin picked up the cat, then lowered his arms slowly. The cat did not follow. "Huh", said multiple students.

Harry looked at the cat, hovering a little over a meter off the ground, and started giggling uncontrollably, having thought of a fun way to renew his desired reputation, at least temporarily. The others looked on in confusion as Harry picked up a napkin, shook it open, and touched his wand to it. A few seconds later, he had a blue cat collar attached to a cat-sized red cape. He put the collar (which closed magnetically rather than using a physical latch; Harry had been planning to write his next transfiguration essay about the application of Topology to transfiguration safety) on the cat and then pushed it forward. The cat sailed along the Gryffindor table with a cape billowing behind it.

"You still think that was a waste of a potion?", Dean asked Kevin. Kevin shook his head without looking away from the cat.

"I so need to get a cape", Lavender announced to no one in particular.

"When and why would you wear a cape. That's just dumb", Parvati said firmly. Lavender just gave her an annoyed look before turning to watch the cat again.

After the cat flew for a few seconds, it panicked and twisted in the air such that it was flying feet-first. It spread out its body, quickly slowing down and dropping. When it neared the floor, it turned itself right-side-up and tried to run away. Unfortunately, during this attempt, it kicked off of the floor and shot across the room, quickly gaining altitude and loudly expressing its displeasure.

While the others were distracted watching the cat, Terry quietly backed away, sat at the Ravenclaw table, and loaded a plate with food, intending to pretend he had been there the whole time.

The cat turned again in time to safely 'land' and rebound off of a wall. It stopped yowling after it leveled out and hovered 10 meters above the ground. It shook its head then licked itself for a moment.

"We have to do something about this", Fred told George.

George nodded. "He's making us look bad. We have to do something really big."

"And soon", Fred concluded.

The cat was now staring intently at a nearby area of the Slytherin table, hanging at an odd angle and looking ready to pounce. Suddenly, it dove toward the table and grabbed a steak off of Draco's plate with its mouth. Without stopping, it took a few strides and jumped, overturning several plates and flying away. It landed on the opposite wall a moment later.

Draco slowly lowered his face into his hands, "Being friends with Harry can't be worth it. Can it?", he asked quietly.

"You'd think the scion of the great house of Malfoy would find friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived-And-Does-Weird-Things more valuable than some easily-replaced food", Daphne whispered to Tracey, rolling her eyes.

"Draco knows that", Tracey replied. "But he doesn't know that we know that. He's not an idiot. But he thinks everyone else is. He's not good at, um, modeling the way other people think. Or something."

"What?"

"It's something I overheard Harry say. I'm almost sure it applies here", Tracey answered.

"You overhear a lot of what Harry says, don't you?", Daphne asked, amused.

Tracey attempted to act offended before they paused to watch as the cat dropped the steak, dove and caught it in midair, holding it between its forepaws and biting it while slowly drifting, upside-down, toward the center of the hall.

"I have a plan", Tracey said, quietly and ominously.

Daphne shook her head, "I'm going to regret asking. What?"

"When Professor Quirrell's extracurricular activities start up, I'm asking him to put me on Harry's team. We'll spend lots of time together then."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen, you'll be on Draco's team with all the other Slytherins."

"You know there won't be as many Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs signed up as Slytherins and Gryffindors, so there'll be a Slytherin team led by Draco, a Gryffindor team led by someone, a Slytherclaw team led by Harry, and a Gryffinpuff team probably led by Susan. And you know how much Professor Quirrell likes Harry, so everyone who's enthusiastic about working with Harry will be on Harry's team."

"You might be right", Daphne said hesitantly. "I wonder if Professor Quirrell will let me join Susan's team. I don't think I could stand to work for Draco or Harry."

"Slytherins and Hufflepuffs working together? Daphne, that's just silly."

While the students watched the cat's antics, Professor McGonagall walked toward the Gryffindor table. Dean noticed her first and quietly nudged Harry. As Harry turned, she asked, "Mr. Potter, are you responsible for this?"

Harry decided that he was at least 60% responsible for everything that had happened, but that there was no point to implicating anyone else. He knew his best option for avoiding detentions and preserving house points would be to lose quickly, but there were more important things than mere house points. "Yes; I've discovered what happens when a cat takes a feather-falling potion. I assume you'd like to turn into a cat and try it? It looks really fun."

Seamus and Dean glanced at each other in surprise. McGonagall snapped, "No, Mr. Potter. I want you to resolve this situation, immediately."

"It's okay if you want to try it; that's what I'd be doing right now if I could turn into a cat. And you shouldn't worry about what the other professors will think. People are happier when they do fun things without worrying about being judged for them. There's a study-"

"Thank you for your opinion of my mental health, Mr. Potter", she said sarcastically. "Restrain the cat."

Harry shrugged mentally and raised his wand. "Wingardium leviosa." He caught the cat and directed it to Kevin, who reached out and held it. "Finite incantatem." Kevin moved his arms to support the cat's restored weight as the napkin slipped off its back to the floor.

"Twenty house points from Ravenclaw, and you'll be serving a detention with me after your last class today, Mr. Potter. Bring your textbooks."

"Oh, good. I've been meaning to ask you some questions about animagus stuff. This will give me a good opportunity."

She turned and walked away quickly, apparently pretending not to have heard. Harry thought he caught her lips twitch upward as she turned, but couldn't be sure.

"Thanks for covering for us; you're a real Gryffindor, Harry", Dean announced. They either missed or decided to ignore Harry's visible shudder.

"You seem much less upset than I would have thought. Getting in trouble and losing house points", Seamus added.

Harry shrugged, "when someone doesn't act the way you expect, it's evidence that your mental model of them is incomplete or incorrect."

They briefly looked confused, and Harry added "That was totally worth it."

Dean commented, "I can't believe she gave you a detention for that."

Harry shrugged again, "I don't really mind; I have to do homework some time. And Hogwarts is still better about things like that than my last school."

"What do you mean?"

"My last teacher had a rule: if something made me giggle for longer than fifteen seconds, I was supposed to assume there was a rule against it. Actually, any time I laughed, she usually made me stand in the corner and not touch anything for about fifteen minutes. Luckily the teachers here haven't implemented such an unpleasant and anti-intellectual policy. So, hang-gliding this weekend?"

r/HPMOR/comments/2dbydo/false_memories_spoliers_27/cjpkh8r

EY may not have had anything specific in mind, but it's still worth thinking about. He explained it to the Weasleys, so it was unlikely to involve the time-turner or invisibility cloak. He hadn't discovered partial transfiguration or first cast a patronus yet. That leaves a handful of options:

he applied something he learned in class

he applied something he read while working with Hermione

it involved one of the magic items in his inventory (comed-tea, gillyweed, feather-falling potion)

I'm going to go with the feather-falling potion; cats basically already have that ability, so the potion probably gives them the ability to glide for a few minutes off of a running jump or something. Hovering a small cat toy (or maybe releasing the quidditch-squito) would result in something approaching a prank (picture a feline seeker doing loops and barrel rolls around the great hall for no apparent reason).

"How would a falling potion affect the universe, Terry? That's just silly", Harry answered, mentally adding, it's not like we're playing with time machines or anything. He continued, "I could tell you about the last time, but you'd have to be obliviated afterwards. That would make the whole thing moot, because then you'd be confused again. So rationally, so should just skip ahead and pretend we've already done that."

previous working titles: Entwhistle's Cat (Better than Quidditch) (Falling or Flying)