Harry Potter: The Artisan's Path Chapter 59

Hi all,

Here’s the next chapter. The new arrival has the solution to Fawkes' problems, and Harry creates his second artifact.

Chapter 59

"His name is Solas," Newt said. "He is an elder phoenix whom I met over a decade ago. Funnily enough, he is originally from Greece, but he has been travelling the world in recent months."

"That’s not surprising," Gabrielle said. "Phoenixes are believed to have originated in this part of the world."

Luna's eyes were wide with wonder as she watched the creature. "Harry, I ought to hang out with you more as I get to see the most incredible creatures. Daddy would be so jealous. Do you think Solas would allow me to take some pictures of him?”

“I don’t see why not,” Newt replied. "But he probably won’t allow it until he has completed the task for which he came here."

When Solas made his grand entrance onto the island, Newt emerged from his cabin to introduce him to everyone. The phoenix was roughly twice the size of Fawkes and had more vibrant plumage, including deep blues, purples, and greens, in addition to the traditional oranges and reds. Harry felt a sense of majesty surrounding him, as if he were a ruler willing to appear in front of the masses. He strutted around like he owned the place, which reinforced that impression, as he was even more pretentious than Fawkes.

Solas ignored the others and circled Harry, trilling softly as he pecked at his clothes. However, Harry got the impression that his truculent tone was tinged with anger.

“Is there a reason why he is so interested in me?” Harry asked.

"Maybe you smell good?" Newt joked before answering his question. "Solas is an elder phoenix, which allows him to examine phoenixes at a deeper level and understand what is going on with them."

“He is magnifique.” Gabrielle crouched down to examine him closer. “What is an Elder Phoenix? How are they different from normal phoenixes?”

“I’m not sure,” Newt admitted. "I learned everything I know about them from Solas, and he isn’t very forthcoming about it. He only revealed that he was the guardian of the origin flame, which is where phoenixes are born. Elder phoenixes are extremely rare, with only a few in existence today."

Harry cast a glance between Newt and Solas. “Can you communicate with him?”

A tendril of fire emerged from Solas' body, and to his surprise and awe, he began writing a message in the air.

Use your imagination, halfwit.

The writing caused everyone to laugh at Harry, and his feeling of awe died a quick death.

“You're one to talk, bird brain,” Harry retorted. That was a useful skill to have, however. Perhaps he could teach Fawkes to write like that, which would be more accurate than attempting to interpret the images he sent him.

Solas wrote another message. Where is the phoenix? I need to examine him as well.

“He’s in my cabin,” Harry said, getting to his feet and showing him the way.

Fawkes was perched on a stand by the window, looking even worse than yesterday, but he still maintained the pretence of being fine. When Fawkes noticed Solas, he trilled softly and lowered his head. The two phoenixes spoke for a few minutes, and Harry had no idea what they were saying. Solas appeared to become angrier over time, as evidenced by the way he kept shaking his head.

Solas finished with a sharp trill, and Fawkes hopped down from his stand obediently. Bewildered, Harry followed them outside, where Solas began writing another message, and everyone gathered around to read it.

Fawkes is in a critical condition. It was the result of a series of unfortunate events, and you are to blame, hatchling.

At the very least, he was no longer referring to him as a halfwit, but he was offended by being blamed for what happened. He assumed Solas was referring to the incident in Ollivander's shop. Fawkes seemed to take offence as well, delivering a sharp trill at Solas.

Solas amended his statement somewhat.

Nonetheless, you saved Fawkes from a bad situation, even if it was unintentional. How your bond formed was an unusual and unprecedented event. Fawkes was under the control of a dark artifact that was inextricably linked to his immortal flame, making escape extremely difficult. I would like to peck out the eyes of whoever did this to him.

“That sounds perfectly reasonable,” Charlus murmured, causing his wife to shoot him an admonishing look.

The stolen feather was the key to the bond's formation. It will try to return to its rightful owner if it isn't freely given away. The feather is sentient and has been infused with the magic that allows a phoenix to flame travel, so it has the means to do so. However, because it was trapped inside a wand, it was unable to return.

"That is where I come in," Harry said, looking down at a faint phoenix-like symbol on his hand. It had been burned into his skin as a result of the accident.

Yes, I’m not sure why you had such an intense reaction to the wand, but when it exploded, the feather should have returned to its rightful owner at that point. However, I suspect that the artifact interfered in some way, resulting in something happening on Fawkes' end that allowed him to gain his freedom and flame to your location.

“I don’t care about how the bond came about,” Harry said. "Even if it wasn’t intentional, I have grown accustomed to sharing the bond with Fawkes and wouldn’t want to give it up for anything."

Fawles trilled in agreement.

Solas wrote a strong message. Even if it’s killing him?

Harry felt like he had been punched in the gut. “Would you like to explain that?”

The bond requires magic to maintain it, but Fawkes is the only one who is contributing. Furthermore, the bond is currently being plagued by a foul darkness. To combat it, Fawkes' magic is working overtime to shield both him and you from it.

Everyone exchanged concerned looks, and his grandparents stepped forward as they realised the problem was bigger than they had anticipated.

“What darkness?” Minerva demanded.

The artifact that controlled Fawkes used something called a corrupted flame, which is extremely toxic to phoenixes and humans. When he broke free from the artifact, some of the corrupted flames merged with Fawkes’ immortal flame, which also infected the bond.

Harry's brows furrowed. "So, that is the cause of Fawkes' problems?"

That is only part of it. When Fawkes had his burning day, you had a similar experience, and the magic he used to accomplish such a feat was immense. Fawkes told me that there was dark magic in your scar, and expelling it required a lot of his magic.

"He got the scar from the night Voldemort tried to kill him," Charlus said, his jaw tightening. "Are you certain it has been expelled?"

Fawkes nodded.

“Harry, is that why you suddenly became a lot healthier?” Daphne asked. “Maybe the dark magic was affecting your health? Like some sort of parasite?”

Harry nodded. “That sounds about right. Even though I wasn’t aware that it was there in the first place, I’m glad that it’s gone.”

“So, what can we do to help Fawkes?” Gabrielle asked.

Solas didn’t respond immediately. He paced around on the sand, looking as if he were thinking about something. If the situation wasn’t so serious, Harry would have laughed at the way the bird waddled around like a penguin. Where had Solas' so-called grandiose demeanour gone? Finally, the phoenix stopped pacing and wrote another message.

I have a solution, but I need to leave to grab something that will help. Wait here.

Solas flew into the air and vanished with a burst of flames.

"Is it wrong of me to say that he looked like a chicken walking across the ground?" Neville offered.

That elicited a few chuckles, and even Fawkes trilled with amusement.

"I wonder why I have a sudden craving for hot, spicy chicken wings," Hermione said, laughing.

Fawkes squawked and tucked his wings to his sides as if she were speaking to him.

“That may be one chicken that is too hot to handle,” Newt remarked.

Solas appeared a few minutes later, but Harry immediately sensed something was wrong. The temperature in his surroundings quickly intensified from hot to nearly unbearable, as if he were sitting in a sauna.

“What’s going on?” Charlus wiped the sweat off his face.

When everyone noticed a flame hovering in front of Solas, they instinctively backed away. The flame, a bright red colour, was most likely the source of the heat and produced a shimmering effect in the surrounding air.

Solas flew down next to Fawkes, and the flame lowered to the ground. When it touched the ground, the sand released a hissing, crackling sound. Harry’s eyes widened when he saw the sand melting under the effects of the flame.

Solas wrote a message in the air. I will feed Fawkes a portion of this flame. It will cleanse the darkness within his immortal flame, and it should do the same throughout the bond.

“What is that flame?” Harry asked.

That is not something you need to know.

"Considering it may affect Harry, I believe it is," Charlus contended.

"I trust Solas," Newt said, unfazed by the heat around them. "This needs to be resolved right now. Have you considered how Harry would be affected if Fawkes died? It could seriously harm him or worse."

"It’s fine," Harry replied, swallowing hard. “What do I need to do?”

Take a seat. Once the flame has purified Fawkes, I need to assist you in making a minor adjustment to the bond so that you both support it equally.

"What effect will this have on his magical reserves?" Minerva frowned.

Harry shrugged. "It’s fine. I probably have more magic than anyone else my age.”

Solas separated a portion of the red flame and fed it to Fawkes, who squealed as he swallowed the thing down. Harry's internal temperature rose instantly, as if he had swallowed the thing himself. He gritted his teeth as sweat soaked his eyes and waited for the pain to subside.

He could have sworn that he was hallucinating as the strand representing their bond appeared in front of him. As he watched, a red streak ran through it, and the black substance that was stuck to it burned away.

Fawkes abruptly showed him images through their bond, demonstrating how to channel some of his magic through it. Concentrating, he summoned his magic to the surface, as if he were injecting it into a spell card, but instead, used his entire body rather than just his hands. A gleam of gold streaked across the bond, and the colour gradually changed to orange.

Harry blinked as the bond vanished, and the sensation of heat in his body subsided. When he looked at Fawkes opposite him, he was relieved to see that his vibrant plumage had returned. The phoenix hopped over to him and jumped into his arms.

"Why were you acting as if everything was okay?" Harry flicked Fawkes' forehead, prompting him to protest. "You were trying to protect me without regard for yourself. Let me know if there is a problem next time."

Fawkes nodded.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Can you get rid of that flame now?” Astoria complained.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Now that Fawkes' health problem had been resolved, Harry turned his attention to his project. He was inspired now that he had the sea essence and didn’t wait to get home to get started.

First, he dragged a protesting Tonks into his workshop trunk and had her explain gem-crafting to him in greater detail so he knew what he was dealing with. She led him into the gem-crafting room and gave him a quick overview of the craft.

"Could you tell me what the advantage of making artifacts from jewellery is?" Tonks asked.

"Why are there questions? Just give me the answer," Harry grumbled but relented when Tonks made to leave the room. "Alright, fine. Jewellery is more discreet. They can be disguised as a regular piece of jewellery or hidden beneath your clothing."

"That’s right," Tonks replied. "But there are other advantages as well. Certain runic languages, such as Majikkurun, perform better with gems, particularly elemental arrays."

"I already have a book to help me learn the language, but I haven’t touched it yet," Harry told her. "But I should get to it as soon as possible if I plan on using it to create my artifact."

"I use the language frequently on my projects. Some gems work better with their corresponding elements, such as rubies for fire and emeralds for earth."

Harry pulled out the sea essence from his pocket. "Can this be used instead of a gemstone? It is a crystal, but it has a quality that appears to be composed of the water element."

He passed her the sea essence, which she carefully examined. “Maybe. Crystals tend to be more brittle than gemstones so they aren’t typically used. But I have never seen this crystal before, so I cannot say for sure. You will need to perform some tests with it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let me first explain what gem-crafting is. Pay attention.”

"Yes, Miss Tonks," Harry said with an exaggerated, childlike expression.

Tonks transformed her face to look like Snape and sneered. “The arrogant brat thinks he is funny. Exactly what I expected from a Potter."

She didn’t immediately transform back, which he found unsettling. Snape’s face transposed onto that of a woman was nightmare-inducing.

"As I previously stated, certain gems are excellent foundations for crafting arrays onto them," Tonks said. “Not only can they hold a lot of magic, but they can conduct magic very well. They are extremely stable, allowing you to inscribe arrays into them at a minuscule scale without affecting their performance."

"But all gems are unique to each other in terms of their internal structure and shape," Harry argued. "Wouldn’t that change how the magic works inside them? You would have to make changes to the entire array schematic to account for each one."

"That is why gem crafting is considered a profession in itself. Come over here and I will show you what you mean."

Tonks motioned him over, and Harry joined her at the table, which had several hand tools scattered across it that were used to shape the gemstones. In the midst of them was a small ruby that she was still working on.

“You do know that there are machines that can shape gems for you, and they are much more precise,” Harry told her. “I should have realised and brought one sooner.”

Tonks shook her head. "I find that doing it by hand helps me maintain good hand-eye coordination, which is essential in my profession. If any of my products become mainstream enough that they require them to be mass-produced, then I can consider the expense."

"I will need to get one eventually."

With his dexterity, he could easily accomplish the same task, but it would take a long time to complete. A machine would significantly reduce that time. If he could make the artifact, he was sure it would be in high demand. Unlike the previous time, when he used the guild to promote his appraisal scrolls, he was considering hiring his own staff to make them, as he would receive a larger share of the profits. He wouldn’t need to advertise the artifact because it would spread through word of mouth, and he could always have Lauren write an article about it.

Tonks continued. "There are two main aspects of gem crafting: shaping the gem and refining it. The former is simple enough, albeit time-consuming and requiring a lot of skill. However, the latter is the most important because you cannot do anything with the gems otherwise. As you previously stated, a gemstone's internal structures are unique, with no two being identical. This can also affect the flow of magic inside them, which could lead to subpar results, or something more explosive when you are inscribing arrays onto them. With me so far?”

Harry nodded.

“So, we need to alter the structure inside them to make them more uniform. You know how to infuse your magic into an object, right?”

“Yes. I use the technique to activate my spell cards.”

“Well, this is a more advanced version of that,” Tonks said. “Let me demonstrate.”

She took out a small microscope and positioned the ruby underneath it. "This is one device for which I prefer the muggle solution because it is much more accurate than any magical solution."

Harry begged to differ. He had the focus monocle, which he had received as a reward for setting up the crafting station, but Tonks wasn’t fortunate to have the Source, so she had the next best thing.

“Look at this,” Tonks said, moving aside so he could look into the microscope.

The inside of the ruby was made up of crystals arranged in a hexagonal pattern, a stunning display of nature's work at its best.

“Make a note of how the entire structure looks,” Tonks said.

Harry did so before he pulled back from the microscope. Tonks looked into the microscope and placed a finger on the gem. He couldn’t see it, but he was sure she was doing something, as she was unusually focused. A few minutes passed before Tonks pulled her head back and gestured for him to take another look.

The internal structure of the ruby had been changed slightly. It was subtle, but his attention to detail was excellent, and he noticed the anomaly almost immediately. She had altered it within the span of a few minutes.

“This is amazing,” Harry exclaimed. “How hard is it to alter a gem like this? Will it take me long to learn it?”

Tonks ruffled his hair. “Well, you're a genius, so I can’t say for sure. But maybe it will take you a few weeks? It’s a hard skill to master, which is why gem crafters are in high demand.”

Harry groaned. “I don’t have the time for that.”

"Well, once you have experimented with the crystal, I will do it for you," Tonks offered. "Although the crystal will take some figuring out. Depending on its shape and the task at hand, each gem has a variety of patterns for optimal internal structures to use with arrays. But I don’t think there are any patterns for the sea essence.”

Harry grinned. That sounded like a simpler solution until he could master the skill himself. "I can compensate you."

“No, you won’t. You have already done enough for me by allowing me to use your workshop. Now, get to experimenting, but don’t forget about the sun shining outside and those lovely ladies. I know what I would rather be doing with my time on the island.”

“Seducing underage girls?” Harry asked, confused.

Tonks punched his shoulder. “Don’t be a smartass.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

6th August

Harry spent the rest of his time on the island hanging out with his girlfriends and experimenting with the sea crystal. Making time for the latter was difficult because the girls seemed to go out of their way to tease him, and his hormones were starting to get out of control. Perhaps it was the setting or the fact that he had turned fourteen, but he could not stop himself from fantasising about doing more than just making out. Even when the others were present on the island, they found places to be alone together, despite his grandmother's efforts to keep an eye on them.

"I don’t want to be a great-grandmother for another few years, at least," she explained to him. It was particularly mortifying because it happened right in front of his girlfriends and the rest of the group. He got a lot of teasing for it, so he went back to his workshop to lick his wounds.

None of his girls were allowed to be alone with him in his workshop, considering there was a bedroom upstairs. He supposed it was a good thing because he could concentrate on his work. His only companion was Fawkes, who had become especially clingy after recovering from his illness, but Harry had been feeling the same.

They also spent more time in Newt's world, meeting some of the more colourful residents and exploring some of the biomes. It was too short a time, as they would need weeks to fully explore the expansive park. Gabrielle and Luna had already decided to collaborate and write a series of articles about their experiences with all the different magical creatures they had met.

Newt got his wish and conducted a series of tests on Harry while he was in his demiguise form, though he appeared disappointed that he didn’t reach any firm conclusions. When the man asked Harry if he could pluck some of the demiguise furs to see if they had the same magical effects when used to make an invisibility cloak, Harry had to put his foot down.

His grandmother agreed with his decision because taking parts from an animagus' animal form had unpredictable effects on the human side. Even something as insignificant as a strand of fur could have serious consequences, and his status as a magical animagus could make matters even more unpredictable.

The first thing he did was carefully break the sea essence into smaller pieces. If he was going to make jewellery out of it, it needed to be the right size. Using Gabrielle as a guinea pig, for which he had to pay several kisses, he discovered that the smaller crystals had a lesser effect on her. However, it wasn’t to the extent that he desired, and he didn’t want to reduce the size further either.

Harry would need to create an enchantment that would isolate the desired effect, which was to reduce the allure while leaving everything else intact, as well as to reduce the nauseating side effects. He didn’t want the Veela to be physically ill when they wore the artifact. Also, he didn’t want them to lose their harpy form or the ability to conjure flames. Not only was it an essential part of their identity, but it also provided them with the ability to protect themselves.

With Tonks' assistance, he was able to refine the crystal into something capable of holding enchantments. They had discovered that the crystal was strong enough to not shatter when Harry inscribed the runes on its surface. Now that the problem had been resolved, he only needed to learn the new runic language and create an array schematic for the allure dampener.

The final day had arrived, and everyone had packed their luggage. They returned to Athens, where Stefanos drove them back to the Ministry. After saying their goodbyes to Newt, they returned to England and separated into two groups. Sirius, Remus, and Lauren would take the majority of the teenagers back home, while his grandparents, Tonks, Gabrielle, and himself, would return to France.

They didn’t use the Ministry of Magic to travel to France because they were afraid that spies would find out where they lived. They had a special portkey that Gabrielle’s father gave them through his connections, which allowed them to travel there without either country's permission.

"I won’t be seeing you for a while," Daphne said, hugging him as they prepared to part ways. "Professor Snape is going to take me on a field trip to harvest some rare ingredients, which may take some time."

Harry nodded. “From paradise to hell. You have my sympathy.”

Daphne slapped his shoulder. “Don’t be mean. He’s not too bad, but he is a little grumpy. Maybe we should set him up with a woman to bring him some joy. Does Tonks have a boyfriend?”

Harry stared at her. She had to be trolling him, because he didn’t think Snape was just a little grumpy, and he would never subject Tonks to that ill-tempered, greasy-haired asshole. Then a thought occurred to him, making him shudder.

Gabrielle and Susan laughed as they saw Harry's disgusted expression. When they asked what he was thinking, he told them.

"I just had the most horrible image in my head," Harry said. "A few days ago, Tonks transformed her face to look like Snape’s as a joke. I was just picturing them kissing, with Snape’s face transposed over her body. Wouldn’t seeing that make you celibate for the rest of your life?

“That’s disgusting, Harry!” Susan exclaimed. "How could you possibly imagine such a thing? Your mind is like a sewer."

“Maybe we should reconsider him as our boyfriend?” Gabrielle mused, and the other two nodded in agreement.

“It’s Tonk’s fault,” Harry protested.

They arrived back in France, and Gabrielle had to return home, but not before dropping a bombshell.

"You must work hard and complete your artifact," Gabrielle said, tapping his nose. "My parents said I could attend Hogwarts if you finished it before the school year began."

"What in the hell?" Harry called after her, but she just giggled and dashed across the backyard towards her home.

Harry stood there for a moment, imagining all of his girlfriends attending Hogwarts with him. It provided pleasant imagery and increased motivation to complete the artifact quickly. He hoped to finish before the end of the summer vacation, but that wasn’t a guarantee. But now there were significant stakes involved.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

August 20th

For the next two weeks, Harry shut himself in his workshop and worked like a madman. First, he learned the Majikkurun runic language and practised it by creating some smaller-sized projects.

Tonks had given him several sequences that were water elemental based and would allow him to get more power out of his arrays.

He jotted down the features he wanted for the allure dampener, but he wanted to keep things as simple as possible. The artifact had to completely suppress the allure while also providing a way to turn it on and off. It had to include security features as well. The artifact had to be linked to the Veela wearing it, which meant that only they could control it, preventing anyone else from using it against them. Furthermore, it needed to be resistant to being removed from the Veela's body, either magically or physically.

In terms of the array schematic, the most challenging part was eliminating the other side effects of the sea essence. The crystal worked to suppress all of Veela’s powers, which wasn’t what he wanted. He realised that if someone else got their hands on this stone, they could use it against the Veela. Nerine told him that it had only appeared in the Aegean Sea thus far, which was fortunate. He wondered how she knew this if she had never left the area.

If his artifact was successful, she would provide him with more in exchange for the items she required. She wasn’t interested in money, but she did want to build her own home in the island's inlet.

After two weeks of preparation, Harry was finally ready to create the artifact. The crystal would be encased in metal, and he chose the same metal that he used to make the bo-staff because it had good magical conductivity. He used a charm to expand the casing so that he could accurately inscribe the arrays. After experimenting, he learned that he could shrink the casing back down without affecting the array, so long as he was careful.

The majority of the arrays would be inscribed on the back of the casing, but he needed to connect them to the crystal itself, which would be the most difficult because he had to inscribe a small sequence onto it.

He spent several hours carefully inscribing the arrays, with the focus monocle covering his eye. When it came to the crystal portion, he had to switch runic pens. It was specifically designed for use on gems and was extremely sharp, but it lacked magical ink. It was unnecessary because the crystal itself was the source of magic.

The last and easiest part was to thread the chain through the encasing, and he was finished. Harry breathed out a sigh of relief and placed the finished product down on the table. He took a moment to appreciate what he had created.

The metal encasing and chain were both silver, with the blue crystal embedded in the centre, creating a stunning contrast. He could add some finer details to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but for the time being, all he cared about was functionality. Crossing his fingers, he declared the artifact complete and gave it a name at the same time.

He retrieved the Source, and read the new message that had appeared.

=========

The host has created his first High-Grade artifact!

Allure Suppressant Necklace

The Allure Suppressant Necklace is an artifact made by a fourteen-year-old artisan. You would have to go back centuries to find someone who could match that feat! The necklace completely suppresses a Veela's allure, allowing them to mingle freely with men without fear of them being adversely affected. It also has several security features to keep it from being stolen from its owner and used for malicious purposes.

=========

Experience Report

General Experience: +20,000

Skill Experience: [Majikkurun Runes +10,000]

Majikkurun has increased to Level 4!

Current Level:11    Next: 123010/153600

=========

The host has completed a workshop task.

Create your first high-grade artifact: 3000 points.

Workshop Level: 2    Next [4050/10000]

Renown + 400

Total Renown: 615

Artisan Rank: 996th > 912th

=========

“Yes!” Harry pumped his fist.

He couldn't believe that he had finished creating his new artifact more than a week ahead of time. More importantly, he was surprised that it worked at all. He expected to go through several iterations, but it just goes to show that his preparation was important to being successful.

Harry grabbed the necklace and rushed out of the room and up the stairs. He rushed through the door and over to the bed, where Tonks was snoring on top of the covers.

“Tonks!”

“What?!” Tonk's eyes popped open in surprise as she noticed Harry standing over her bed. “Cor blimey, Harry. Why the hell are you waking me up like that?"

Harry didn’t say anything but handed her the necklace, and she smiled when she realised what she was looking at. She grabbed the necklace and examined it.

"Congratulations, Harry," Tonks said, sitting up and hugging him before breaking into an impish grin. “How do you know it works? Aren’t you going to test it on your girlfriend?”

Harry rolled his eyes. He had already received confirmation that it worked. Nonetheless, he imagined Gabrielle's reaction when he showed her the artefact and couldn’t wait to see it. He grabbed the necklace from Tonks and dashed down the stairs.

"Don’t mind me. Leave me hanging after you rudely woke me up!" Tonks shouted after him.

So, what do you think? Harry has created his second artifact, and it's going to cause a bit of a stir in the magical community.

Thanks for reading.