The Year of the Revolution II. The Discovery of Friendship

27. Progress

The experience had been so exciting, revealing and fulfilling that Lily and Sev weren't sorry they'd missed that night together they'd given up.

Also for Cecile and Remus it was shocking to confirm what they sensed they felt for each other, which encouraged her not to give up her efforts, but to do it with tact and patience, and him not to close in and give himself a chance.

As they had already verified, the three initiates had acquired some ability to dominate the natural world with and without a wand and they dedicated to experimenting it.

But it did not stop there. The first to notice were Remus and Cecile, both of whom had become more proficient in the subjects that Sev and Lily were better at, which were the majority. They told Sev, which confirmed his suspicions that magic was also passed from one warlock to another.

In fact, in the next Potions class, in which both boys were even more aware of each other than before, the wolf, at one point, questioned Sev with his eyes, while showing him with one hand a dropper with orange essence and with the other three fingers.

He confirmed it, because he had already carried out that step in the brewing of the potion, there were three and not five drops that he had to add. 'He has acquired my talent, let's see if the girls too.'

At the end of the class it was Remus and Sev who were the only ones congratulated by Slughorn. 'Then it is as I thought, only the innate ability is transmitted, but not the acquired knowledge. Remus is taking Arithmancy and already has it, but he didn't have the skill to apply it. The girls also have the talent now, but they must study to develop it. Also, today I have intuitively known how to prepare the ingredients, Lily's natural ability. Today it is my turn to write, I will explain everything to them.'

They continued to communicate their progress, now the four of them were writing to each other. Lily and Cecile saw their talent for Arithmancy increase, Sev and Remus helped them acquire the knowledge, and in a few weeks they reached the excellence of the boys.

'Now they'll enjoy my Dueling skills as well, they just have to practice to develop them, and Remus has the knowledge, he can teach the girls. I would show them my hideout in the Forest, but a new outing with them seems risky. Remus must know the Forest as well as I do, in fact he told me that he would reconnoitre the route to the fir tree. I will leave them a map and a detailed description of how to get to the small clearing hidden in the book of endemisms, suggesting that they practice Defense together.

'This relieves me of the burden of having to teach Lily by myself, which will leave us more time for other more enjoyable activities when we meet again... which will be soon. I already asked Lauren to read the snakes immediately after my absence from Hogsmeade and the castle and she confirmed that they don't suspect anything.'

In that same session he tried to read Lauren without his wand. 'After all, the human mind is also a natural element.' And he got it effortlessly the first time, she was so amazed. They hadn't started the Projection yet and he wanted to try it, mentally telling her what had happened the day of the blizzard, without mentioning, of course, who they were. She succinctly explained to him how he was to do it, but he didn't get it.

'Of course, the magic of the Forest also provides the talent, not the knowledge, as it happened to Ariel when he couldn't predict the weather like me. If I have advanced in Transfiguration and in controlling the elements almost immediately, it is because I have spent years acquiring skills in these matters, and the Forest has given me the talent to exploit them.'

So he explained to Lauren orally the discovered magic and her expression accompanied her words, "Severus... will you never cease to amaze me?"

'I want to make her instantly participate in Druid Magic, finally a form up to the task of reciprocating her. Since I'm not sure that the stars don't have an influence - with the Gryffindors we did it on the new moon - nor on the day of the birthday, I don't want to rush. In just over a week there is a full moon, but in that case we should go at night so that the moon is in the sky. I don't know if I'll be able to orient myself, though I suspect I will, but the foursome, including Remus in his morph, will be on their foray. The next new moon, more auspicious for being a beginning, is still a month away.'