[HPforGrownups] TBAY?: Stunning Harry (WAS Coherence II)

[Laura Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 39136

Laura sits on the deck of the Big Bang Destroyer with her chin propped up on her knees, contemplating her earlier conversation with Caroline.  Nearby Stoned!Harry has caught a fish and is gleefully trying to chew off its tail.

Suddenly, Laura jumps to her feet, and - swaying a little from all the margaritas - approaches the side of the ship.

"Harry!" She calls, leaning over the side.  "Harry!"  The boy looks up towards her with decidedly glazed eyes, then wanders near the Big Bang, dropping his fish into the windswept surf.

"What do you think?  Stunning spell?"  She asks, but Stoned!Harry merely smiles coyly up at her.

"Of course, it could have been anything, you know.  Like.. um."  She trails off as Caroline approaches with a large fluffy blanket and a copy of the Daily Prophet tucked under her arm.

"But what else would have given him the sensation of getting hit over the head?  The Stunning Spell makes perfect sense!"  Caroline argues as she spreads out her towel and sits down on it.  There is a pause in the conversation as Harry gazes curiously into the water beneath his feet and Laura scowls at the horizon, lost in thought.

"But...it doesn't really make sense that Harry would have a special protection against the Stunning Spell due to his Stoned! status, does it?  I mean,  what has one really got to do with the other?" She says, slowly.  Harry is now peering into the depths of Theory Bay with a great deal of concern on his face.

"Well.." Starts Caroline uncertainly, but at that moment there is a great deal of commotion in the water beside the Big Bang as something Styrofoam and oddly shaped bursts out of the Bay - just missing Stoned!Harry - and flies several feet into the air before splashing down beside the Destroyer.  Harry stands dumbstruck to beside it, looking quite traumatized. Caroline and Laura, having instinctively hit the deck as thing exploded from the water, peak cautiously over the side of the Destroyer.  Recognizing the shape of the object, Caroline gets up, looking smug.

"See?  I have a can(n)on to back me up!  The Death Eaters in the graveyard couldn't Stun Harry!" She exclaims.  Laura is not completely convinced yet, however.

"I don't know, " She says, eyeing the styrafoam can(n)on as it bobs innocently on the waves, "It doesn't look very solid to me -- I mean, they could have just been really bad shots."

Caroline raises an eyebrow at her, smiling.  Laura bites her lip.  On the water below, Harry pokes the can(n)on gingerly, looking suspicious.

"Oh," Laura says finally, with a sigh, "You're right.  It is a pretty big coincidence."  Harry, obviously feeling more confident, aims a kick at Caroline's new can(n)on.

"Hey!" the Captain shouts suddenly, "Don't touch that!" Harry jumps, looks up at her reproachfully, then stalks off across the waves.  Caroline and Laura watch him go, looking contemplative.

"I wonder what else that boy can do,"  Laura muses, as Caroline settles down on her blanket and opens up the Daily Prophet.  "Hey, mind giving me the crossword, Caroline?"

At that moment, however, Captain Cindy stalks across the deck toward them, looking murderous.

>"What's it going to take to get you ladies to pull your weight 
>around here, huh?" the Captain snarled.  "I've reached the point 
>where I'm reduced to *Humpty Dumptying the Bangs* for cryin' out 
>loud, and I've had just about enough!"

>Laura gulped audibly, but Caroline stepped forward and addressed the 
>Captain directly.  

>"It's . . . it's Laura, Captain.  She has been listening to Harry 
>Potter again, and she's given me an idea.  I think that Harry might 
>have some sort of natural protection against curses.  Listen to this 
>bit of CoS:"

>"Harry swung his wand high, but Malfoy had already started on 
>`two': His spell hit Harry so hard, he felt as though he had been 
>hit over the head with a saucepan. He stumbled but everything still 
>seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his 
>wand at Malfoy..."

>"And think about this," Caroline continued.  "Has anyone ever 
>successfully stunned our Harry?  I mean, those DE's in the graveyard 
>were kind of pitiful when they tried to do that."

>Laura nodded vigorously, her eyes wide.

>Caroline went on, her voice rising above the sound of the Big Bang's 
>Huge engines.  "You know, along with dormant immortality, Harry may 
>have a dormant curse shield that works when he really needs it."

>The Captain considered, stroking her chin thoughtfully.  "That's not 
>half bad, Caroline.  Not bad at all.  You've got some good canon 
>there.  I especially like the way you've moved us away from the Ever 
>So Lame 'Harry was saved by his mother's love' bit.  That's twice 
>you've done that.  Nice work."  

>The Captain seized the nearest margarita and sucked the staw 
>vigorously, making a hollow, slurping sound.  "There is one other 
>small canon you might wish to add to your SHIP, should you choose to 
>launch it.  For some unexplained reason, Harry has trouble with his 
>Shield Charm.  That's really odd, isn't it?  Here we are at the end 
>of a tremendously long book.  Why is JKR going on about Shield 
>Charms at the end of GoF, anyway?  Harry never masters it or tries 
>to use it in the tasks or graveyard.  No one has ever used or 
>mentioned a Shield Charm before.  So why even introduce the concept?"

>Laura and Caroline stared at the Captain, speechless.  Laura 
>clutched her own margarita to her breast.

>"Could it be," continued the Captain, "that the reason JKR 
>introduces the idea of a Shield Charm (and the reason Harry can't 
>get it to work) is that Harry already has a shield?  So attempting 
>an ordinary Shield Charm won't work because he already *has* a 
>shield?  It's *redundant*, don't you know?"

>"Redundant?  Redundant magic?" Laura ventured.

>"That's right," said the Captain.  "Have we seen anything in canon 
>whereby a character accomplishes anything useful by layering a spell 
>on top of another spell?  Nothing comes to mind, does it?  So if you 
>already have a natural magical shield, and you try to work a Shield 
>Charm, you'll fail every time, won't you?"

>"Nice Banging, Caroline." The Captain handed the margarita back to 
>Caroline, who examined the straw closely but did not sip from 
>it.  "Very nice indeed!" 

The Captain walks away to go harass a group of shipmates playing a rather unproductive game of Exploding Snap, while Laura eyes the water beside the Big Bang, expecting the can(n)on that Captain Cindy mentioned to come bursting out of the surf at any moment.

 "Say, Caroline,"  She says, after a moment, "Captain Cindy has a very interesting point there.  As we all know, Jo never mentions anything just for the fun of it.  I mean -- the parseltounge thing is an excellent example.  Who would have thought in PS/SS that Harry's ability to talk to snakes would come to be such an important part of CoS?  It makes you wonder, too..about the other things Harry did before he was a wizard.  Especially the part where he re-grew his hair.  Would that be considered transfiguration -- or something else?  Say, regeneration?"

Caroline's eyes grow wide, "And...regeneration is only a couple steps away from resurrection!"

"Exactly!" exclaims Laura, looking triumphant.  "If Harry can regenerate one bit of himself, who's to say that he can regenerate his entire body?! Ha!  Another can(n)on!!"

Caroline looks impressed, and a little scared.  "You know, Laura...I mean to say -- with all these can(n)ons we're collecting..."

Both she and Laura throw dubious glances at Captain Cindy who is busy assigning the Exploding Snap players to more lucrative tasks.  Laura finishes her margarita in one large swig and then gazes out to sea, where Stoned!Harry is once more frolicking with the fishes.

"He is really is quite seductive, you know,"  She murmurs absentmindedly, "No wonder we've gotten so many shipmates in such a short span of time."


laura


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