He spent a little more time talking with Neville and Hermione before retiring to his office to work on some things. Truth was, he really needed to get out of the tower for awhile. He was given some more essays to grade from Professor Caldwell that he probably should be working on, but he really wanted to read up on Metamorphmagi in private. Ever since Ginny's comments earlier in the week, he'd been dying to know more about the ability and whether or not he actually was one. He scoured the shelves of the library looking for books on the subject. And now he was satisfying his curiosity by reading up on the topic.
He found a couple good reference points to start with. He quickly learned that there were many different levels of metamorphmagi. Some, like Tonks, had full control over their appearances. Others had varying degrees of control. Some were unable to change their overall body structure, but could otherwise change anything. Still others were only able to change their coloring, whether skin or hair, or their hair length, as in Harry's case. There was even one reported case of someone who was only able to control the growth of his nails. That would be an odd ability.
There was no real way to tell what level you were, as far as Harry could tell, except to try changing different parts of your body until you find your limits. Harry started off small. He knew he could change the length of the hair on his head, so he tried concentrating on other hair. His first target was facial hair. He knew that some of his friends had to shave their faces regularly, but he never did. He had never really thought about it before, much the same way he hadn't thought about his hair before the previous summer.
But now he wondered if maybe he was unconsciously controlling that as well. So that evening found Harry sitting in his office, staring into a conjured mirror, focusing on growing a beard. When he didn't experience any results after several minutes, he played with the length of the hair on his head to get a feel of how he was controlling the process. Then he did his best to adapt that to his face.
The approach worked brilliantly, and he was soon sprouting a thick, full beard. He let it keep growing and growing until he reminded himself of Hagrid and his bushy beard. He couldn't help but laugh at himself as he stared into the mirror. He willed the hair to retreat back into his face until he had a respectable looking beard in place. He wiped the slate clean once he was satisfied and concentrated on just growing a beard on his chin, not on his cheeks. It took a couple tries to get it right, but he eventually managed to grow the hair exactly where he wanted it.
Harry had to squash the urge to keep going. It was getting late, and given how Hermione had acted in the past with regard to the curfew, he knew that if he didn't pack up soon, he'd have a formidable witch to face when he made it back to the Common Room. So he reluctantly shuffled his way back to the tower to join his housemates.
The tenseness did not abate over the weekend, as Harry had hoped it would. Ron still adamantly ignored his presence, not that Harry was terribly inclined to talk to Ron with the way he was acting. And he probably wouldn't be for some time. But at the same time, Harry felt bad for the strain it put on the rest of their friends. Plus he just enjoyed life more when he wasn't at odds with one of his friends. But there was not much he could do about it.
Ron had to come to terms with it on his own and realize that there was more to life than Quidditch. Not only that, but Ron needed to learn that his actions have consequences. He too easily lost his temper and lashed out at his friends. And he just kept repeating the same mistakes over and over. Harry had forgiven him easily for it in the past, but he wasn't as inclined to do so now. They weren't kids any more, and Ron needed to grow up. If Ron really thought about it and realized what he'd done and came to talk to Harry about it and apologized for everything he had done, not just saying "Sorry for kicking you off the team," maybe then Harry would be able to consider forgiving him. There was no way he was just going to let Ron apologize and pretend it never happened.
One thing he did notice through the whole ordeal was a change in the way Ron acted around Hermione. They had always been close, of course. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been the best of friends for several years. But Ron and Hermione had always bickered with each other, most of the time over the most trivial of things. But they always argued, and rather vehemently sometimes. That didn't seem to be the case as much now. Ron seemed like he was going out of his way to keep the peace with Hermione.
Harry couldn't tell if it was because Ron was upset at Harry that he didn't feel the need to argue with Hermione, or if perhaps Ron was just finally coming around and realizing what it was he felt for Hermione. With the Yule Ball coming up, it would be an opportune time to act on his feelings. They hadn't really talked about the ball much after the day it was announced. Ron seemed to avoid the topic like the plague, whether it was about the fact that Harry was going with his little sister or the speculation about which witch he was going to ask.
Not that anyone really had to ask that question. It was obvious to all the way Ron felt about Hermione, to all but Ron and Hermione that is. At least something good was coming out of all this mess, Harry mused, and he said as much to Ginny that Sunday night.
....
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