(Y/N)'s POV

After my outburst in Potions I was in a very foul mood, after classes I wanted to distract myself, Hermione was busy in the library, so I did the only thing I could think of that would distract me from my anger and resentment towards Harry.

I rapped on the door three times in quick succession and almost immediately regretted it. "Enter" said a bored drawl, stepping inside, Snape was behind his desk, mulling over the third year's essays on Grindylows. No doubt being very harsh with his marking.

"Mr. (L/N), to what do I owe the...intrusion?" I just got straight to the point, I knew that was how Snape liked things done and that's part of the reason I asked him to help. "I have an Idea, but I need your help with it and I know you won't sugar coat things for me."

"So, if It won't work just tell me." He stopped writing and looked down his nose at me, "Well, enlighten me to what you have deemed to be important enough to waste my evening."

I nodded, "Right, well, I have an idea for a spell I want to create and I don't know how it works, McGonagall said that either you or Flitwick would be the best people to-" "-Do tell, does this new spell allow you to get to the point?"

I stuttered a bit and he raised an eyebrow, I decided to tell him one of the main selling points of my theory, if it worked. "I think it can stop the Killing Curse!" He sighed so heavily it almost looked like he was about to pass out from lack of oxygen.

"And where did you get the foolish notion that you could succeed where generations of Witches and Wizards much more accomplished then yourself have failed?" When he put it like that, it did feel like a bit of a fever dream.

I shrugged, "Might as well try, got nothing better to do, but I only have to get it right once, if the theory works, then I can save a lot of people, and at this point we're probably going to need all the help we can get." I smiled at the thought.

I explained, "To put it simply, I want to make a shield charm specifically for it." He was not very impressed. "A very original thought that I am sure has never crossed the minds of any Wizard to ever pass through Hogwarts"

He glared at me and said, "Tell me, why do you come to me and waste my time with this absurdity rather then your beloved Professor Flitwick?" "You will tell me the facts, he'd sugarcoat everything and try to encourage me with something that might not work.

"In short, he's too nice." "But it is a shield charm is it not, why do I have to suffer through your rambling trying to find a hint of any legitimate thought?" I ignored the insult. "Well, to be fair, it is a literal defence...against...the dark arts." I said slowly, he just sighed. I think that was a good sign.

The real reason was because of my explanation involving feindfyre, I thought that might break my memory charm on Flitwick who would then be honour bound to tell Dumbledore that it was me who trashed Umbridge's office who would then in turn be honour bound to expel me.

This time the sigh was closer to a groan but he allowed me to continue, saying nothing but looking into my eyes with such intensity I feared he may have mastered a way of seeing into my soul "Go on."

"Um, right, well you know the Patronus?" he nodded, "Well, that's proof that spells can be activated and fuelled by memories and emotion and the stronger the emotion the stronger the patronus."

He waved it off "The patronus is naturally incorporeal and therefore does not have the ability to feel or do anything other then defend against creatures such as Dementors, even a fully formed patronus suffers from this flaw."

"It would do less then nothing to stop an unforgivable curse, or any curse for that matter" I nodded, "That's only part of it." he shook his head, "Off to an excellent start Mr. (L/N), I can't wait to hear what nonsense you spew at me next"

"Fiendfyre is proof that you can have a spell that is somewhat sentient because its living flames, just like a fully formed patronus is basically a living shield. So what if we combine them?" "To what end?" he said impatiently.

"So there are examples of spells that emit a will of their own and that emotion can fuel spells-" "I do not know where you learnt about such magics but I assure you that dark magic of that nature has no will to speak of other then the need to create destruction."

"Any attempt to impart a will onto a force of nature would be met with little to no change." I just talked over him. "So, my reasoning is, if you can make a spell that mimics life, it can be used to take the impact of the killing curse rather then the caster, or at the very least, slow it down."

"Ingenious Mr. (L/N), why nobody has thought of this application of magic before is beyond me." he said with dry sarcasm, rolling his eyes. "Other then the fact it is monumentally dim witted."

"Well, to paraphrase friends of mine, 'that's why it's so brilliant, because its so monumentally dim witted' " I said, trying to stop his cynical outlook, it did not work in the slightest. He simply stood up and reiterated.

"It cannot be done" he said simply, "The Unforgivable curse is unblockable, the purpose of the spell is to kill. It does not wound, it does not incapacitate, it can only deliver death" He took a breath as he finished explaining plainly.

I nodded, "I know, that's why it's the 'killing curse' and not the 'mild inconvenience' curse." He seemed to get fed up of my sass and instead focused on debunking my theory, he took a second to gather his thoughts.

He strode across the room and flourished his robes like he always does when he's feeling dramatic. "You feel confident enough in your ability that you think simply making a charm that creates a half life will stop it?" he sneered.

"There is not a shield charm in the world capable of stopping it" he said as a matter of fact. "Yet." I countered. "Your reasoning by its nature is flawed, it is next to impossible to create a patronus, a projection of positivity, and feindfyre, a spell created for nothing but destruction, at the same time, they are conflicting principles that are likely to nullify each other."

"That's not what I mean, I don't need to make those spells, I just think that they prove the theory that the will of the caster and its emotion can be harnessed through a spell, so I can theoretically put a specific emotion into a spell."

"And do tell, which emotion you feel will be able to stop the single most deadly spell ever envisioned? Be warned, if you say 'the power of love' you will find yourself in detention...indefinitely" I nodded but thought, "So nothing new then."

"No, that was a bad explanation, not life exactly, or love. Wanting to protect life, or someone you love, wanting them to survive more then anything in the world, even your own life." "And what difference does this distinction make to your flawed reasoning?"

"Harry said that Dumbledore explained he survived because his Mum was willing to die to protect him, what if we could project that into a shield charm, sacrificial protection to cancel out the curse."

"If we, or I really, can make a spell, a simple charm that embodies this, making a faux sacrifice, I could fulfil the requirements for the sacrifice with a charm, there would literally be 'love in every stitch' of the spell" I smiled, thinking fondly of Mrs Weasley.

"If I could meet the requirements of Mrs. Potters sacrifice in a charm, it should have the same effect, meaning that if it works, the Killing Curse will either rebound or dissipate entirely." I finished, finally looking into Snape's eyes again and beaming, but immediately regretting doing so.

Snape was the angriest I had ever seen him, usually his anger is cold, uncaring, but his face was flushed with rage, his nostrils flaring, his eyes so wide he looked as if he was considering strangling me.

"You wish to mock this sacrifice?" he said, his nostrils flaring and his voice rising, "To bastardise it, as if it is something that can be mimicked with a charm, reducing her sacrifice to a quirk of a spell instead of a sacrifice done out of desperation by one of the greatest Witches of our age!"

"No, I was kind of doing it in her memory, if her sacrifice could be an example of-" "And what do you know of the memory of Lily Evans!" He bellowed at me. My heart sank, I didn't mean to offend him or anything, I didn't even know he knew her.

"As if you can even hope to fathom her emotions in that moment." I couldn't even speak I was so shocked. "As if you could replicate it so simply with a flick of a wand!" "...out." he muttered "OUT!" he bellowed, a fire in his eyes I had never seen cross his face before, he pointed to the door and it flung itself open.

Taking the hint that I had pushed my luck enough, I retreated, instead going to the common room. When I got there I made no mention of my trip to Snape's office, wanting nothing more then to forget it. Harry returned some time later after his one to one with Slughorn.

Neither Ron nor Hermione was at all sympathetic when Harry told them of this disastrous interview, I had too much on my mind to care at this point. Hermione was still seething at the way Harry had triumphed without doing the work properly.

Ron was resentful that Harry hadn't slipped him a bezoar, too. "It would've just looked stupid if we'd both done it!" said Harry irritably. "Look, I had to try and soften him up so I could ask him about Voldemort, didn't I? Oh, will you get a grip!" he added in exasperation, as Ron winced at the sound of the name.

Infuriated by his failure and by Ron and Hermione's attitudes, Harry brooded for the next few days over what to do next about Slughorn. He decided that, for the time being, that instead of using my incredible and versatile abilities.

He would let Slughorn think that he had forgotten all about Horcruxes; it was surely best to lull him into a false sense of security before returning to the attack. When Harry did not question Slughorn again.

The Potions master reverted to his usual affectionate treatment of him, and appeared to have put the matter from his mind. Meanwhile, the Hogwarts library had failed Hermione for the first time in living memory.

She was so shocked, she even forgot that she was annoyed at Harry for his trick with the bezoar, "I haven't found one single explanation of what Horcruxes do!" she told us. "Not a single one! I've been right through the restricted section.

"Even in the most horrible books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions — nothing! All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile — listen —"

" 'Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction'...I mean, why mention it, then?" she said impatiently, slamming the old book shut; it let out a ghostly wail. "Oh, shut up," she snapped, stuffing it back into her bag.

She sulked in the library for the remainder of the day, much like Harry, upset by being defeated, that was when I was reminded of another issue that plagued my life.

It was across the library that I realised Ron was making eyes at Hermione in between his heated make out sessions with his girlfriend, and then quickly darting his eyes away when he noticed me staring back.

I decided to confront him in the common room the next day as everyone else headed down to breakfast, I waited for the room to empty and hung back, grabbing him by the collar as Harry headed downstairs and pushing him against a wall.

"What the bloody hell was that for!" he groaned as I slammed him against the stone wall. I tried to remain calm, the thought in the back of my head that he was still one of my best friends being the only thing that stopped me from hurting him.

"Ron, I'm happy you found Lavender, truly, and I wish you both nothing but the best" he smiled awkwardly, "Thanks-" I held a hand out to stop him from talking. "But, just because you're with Lavender now doesn't mean I've forgotten what you were rooting for beforehand. I'm not blind Ron."

He went a pale colour that rivalled Malfoy and let out a stammer that I couldn't even make words from. "Ron, you are one of my best friends, that's the reason I'm telling you this politely as I can."

"What?" he trailed off weakly, looking utterly horrified and like he would be happier downstairs with Lavender. "I'm giving you this one warning, it'll be the last one you are ever going to get." "Warning?" I sighed and got a little closer.

"I love the bare bones of you, but I love her more, so, final warning," I looked at him directly in the eyes and released his shirt, "If you try to get between me and Hermione again. I'll kill you." It was an empty threat, and really just the remnants of my insecurity, but he didn't know that.

He nodded hastily and darted away to breakfast, hoping that the large crowd of the great hall would prevent me from doing any acts of unspeakable violence to him. Bones jumped on my shoulder, she found it very amusing to watch that unfold. "That went well" she mused.

With a nod and a chuckle, I went downstairs and greeted Hermione, who was waiting for me so we could head off to breakfast together. "Good morning" she beamed at me. "Morning love" I said, pulling her into a kiss.

I was immensely satisfied as I watched Ron hurry off with Lavender, pulling her along by the wrist to the great hall was she giggled. "Ron seems eager to get to breakfast" she commented, I shrugged, "So nothing new then."

The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish-grey clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy.

The weeks rolled by, I spent days and days, hours and hours working on the charm, so much so my wrist had been sprained several times. Much to Madam Pomfrey's annoyance. I could do the Shield Charm in my sleep and have dreams of my patronus.

But despite everything, even with Hermione's help, I was finding creating my charm impossible. Like Snape said, trying to impose a will on something that is naturally inanimate is very hard to accomplish. I could make something, it was like the first spark of a shield charm.

But that was always as far as I got before it fizzled out, I was having trouble maintaining it. Whatever the hell it was, it was missing something, I just don't know what I was overlooking.

I got a break from my hard work on the day of the the sixth-years' first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, it took place in the Great Hall instead of in the grounds.

When Harry, Hermione and I arrived in the Hall we noticed the tables had disappeared. Ron had come down with Lavender, which was nothing new, for weeks the only one of us he had talked to was Harry.

He was ignoring me and Hermione and barely interacted with us, over the weeks he had seemed to become content with his new relationship and was starting to look like he genuinely enjoyed himself. He was still a little skittish whenever we were alone though.

Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout, the Heads of House and a small wizard I guessed was the Apparition Instructor from the Ministry.

He was oddly colourless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away.

At first I thought he was a ghost but now I wasn't too sure, he looked as if he was halfway here, as if he was in a constant state of apparition, I couldn't help but wonder, would it be rude to ask?

"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had arrived and the Heads of House had called for quiet. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks."

"I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition test in this time-" "That is the best name I've ever heard and I live with a house elf named Winky" I muttered to Hermione beside me and Neville behind me.

I jumped as a loud voice cut through mine "Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall. Everybody looked round. Malfoy had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument.

I glanced quickly at Snape, who also looked annoyed, though intuition told me it was less because of Malfoy's rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had reprimanded one of his house.

As I looked over, he caught my eye, he glared at me intently, if looks could kill, and in my experience some of them could, I would have keeled over on the spot. I suppose he still hadn't forgiven me for my 'insult' to Mrs. Potters memory.

"-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your test," Twycross continued, as though there had been no interruption.

"As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The Headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice.

"May I emphasise that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try."

"I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you." There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space.

The Heads of House moved among the students, marshalling them into position and breaking up arguments. Just as I found a space my attention was drawn away.

"Harry, where are you going?" demanded Hermione. But Harry did not answer; he was moving quickly through the crowd, it took me a few seconds to realise that he was trying to eavesdrop on Malfoy.

"He's hardly going to be plotting a hostile takeover while he's tripping over a hoop is he?" I thought, if he was, it might be funny watching him get splinched. I would have followed, but McGonagall purposely put me around the back of the hall, away from the others to 'discourage any theatrics.'

"You know me too well professor" I winked at her, she scowled. It kind of sucked not being near the others, but I did get a good view of the whole hall, so watching people could be fun I suppose. But I made a note to keep an eye on Malfoy anyway.

The four Heads of House shouted, "Quiet!" and silence fell again. Malfoy turned slowly to face the front. "Thank you," said Twycross. "Now then..." He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student.

"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D's!" said Twycross. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation! "Step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination," said Twycross.

"In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now." Everybody looked around furtively, to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily did as they were told.

I focused on my hoop, imagining it was the only thing in the hall, trying my best to drown out the noise of other students. "Step two," said Twycross, "focus your determination to occupy the visualised space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!"

I had no idea what that meant, but I think I was doing it. I tried my best to feel and remember the sensation of Apparition to the best of my ability, hoping it would benefit me somehow. This had a lot more steps then I remember, Winky just snapped her fingers or something.

"Step three," called Twycross, "only when I give the command...turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation. On my command, now...one-"

I took a quick breath "-two-" I focused on my hoop as hard as I could, imagining it was literally the only space I could go to in the room, kind of like 'the floor is lava.' but the whole room was lava and I knew I didn't want the lava to get me.

"-THREE!" I spun on the spot, I felt a bit strange, but nothing changed, but there was no excruciating pain, so that was a plus. Opening my eyes, I found myself firmly placed within the hoop that I'd hoped to be in, I quickly checked all my remaining extremities and I felt fine.

Looking around, the whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on his back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.

"Never mind, never mind," said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better but was clearly staring at me, he gave me a once over, whispered something to McGonagall, who whispered something back.

He smiled in my direction and then addressed the others. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions..." He pointed a long, ghostly finger to me and motioned me forward. The whole hall stared at me inside my hoop.

Honestly I didn't expect it to go like this, part of me thought I had just somehow managed to jump into my hoop without realising like Ernie, guess not. My awkwardness and anxiety kicked in, but I reluctantly walked up to him.

He scanned me with his eyes again, he lingered a little on my hand and did a half nod. He spoke politely and with eloquence, "Have you done this before?" I nodded, "Loads of times with house elf magic, but only once on my own, and then once taking someone with me"

He looked to my hand and nodded again, "You've been splinched before I see, often a good motivator to succeed, knowing what will happen if you fail." "Can you tell?" I said, examining my prosthetic but not seeing any obvious signs of an injury that would indicate splinching specifically.

Admittedly I was feeling a little self-conscious. I tended to forget about it to be honest, mostly because whenever I looked at it I saw Dolores Umbridge, Dolohov or that mean girl who hid Luna's shoes, but I suppose it was a little obvious.

He seemed to notice my discomfort and said "Only because of years of experience" I nodded, he added, "In my years, I have found, as they say, practice makes perfect, in order to avoid repeating, unpleasant experiences"

He motioned me back to my hoop and I cringed, remembering the night I lost my hand "Yeah, it's not fun" It was a very big understatement, but to be honest, I don't remember it happening, only everything afterwards.

As if to prove my point, there was a horrible screech of pain and everybody looked around, terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started.

The Heads of House converged on her; there was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but looking horrified. "Could've used that a few years back" I muttered.

"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continually upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation...thus."

"I dunno, I think I was pretty determined" I thought back to my escape from the graveyard again. Then I laughed because I always imagine the image of my real hand flipping off Voldemort as it seperated. Leaving it behind as a final insult.

As I focused again, Twycross stepped forwards, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall. "Remember the three D's," he said, "and try again...one — two — three"

But an hour later, Susan's Splinching was still the most interesting thing that had happened to anyone else in the hall. Twycross did not seem discouraged and bowed to us.

Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, "Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation." With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall.

Talk broke out at once as people began moving towards the Entrance Hall and I was bombarded with questions from almost the entire year. Hermione was first to interrogate me, telling me to write her a detailed description of how it was done.

"Ohhh, I do love it when you talk dirty 'Mione" I smirked, she blushed and slapped my arm. Laughing, I took her hand and went to find Harry, unfortunately, we weren't the only ones, "How did you do?" asked Ron, hurrying towards Harry.

"I think I felt something the last time I tried — a kind of tingling in my feet." "I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won," said Hermione as she stalked past, smirking. I just waved as we wandered off to the dorm.

After some coaxing, Ron told me later that Harry had a plan to basically stalk Draco with the Marauders Map. "Smart, look for his secret Death Eater base in Hogwarts, he can't hide it forever!"

Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harry had no luck at all over the next couple of weeks. I helped him when I could, trying to keep an eye on him if he did anything shifty, the only problem being that Draco Malfoy almost always looked shifty to me.

Harry consulted the map as often as he could, sometimes making unnecessary visits to the bathroom between lessons to search it, he did not once see Malfoy anywhere suspicious. February moved towards March with no change in the weather except that it became windy as well as wet.

I got my letter from Moody this time, it had clearly gone through multiple avenues to get to Hogwarts and had arrived very late. I could see multiple different stamps, muggle and otherwise, clearly to mask where It was originally sent from.

The letter itself seemed to be written on a torn piece of parchment and the handwriting was like a scrawl, words were crossed out and replaced constantly and it all looked very heavy handed, but it was fair to say, I expected nothing less.

There was no introduction or 'how are you doing' he just got straight to the point. It was actually a lot more articulate then I thought it would be though.

"I hear you got the belt. Good, don't waste it like she did, keep it full of things that might be of use, not sweets and gumdrops!" the dot on the exclamation mark was dotted so harshly ink had splattered across the page.

"The Dark Detector I got you will go silent when in the presence of Dark Magic" he explained finally, after a long anecdote about how having a sprig of parsley saved him from certain death. "Shouldn't it be the other way round?" I thought, remembering his gift that I had sealed in an unbreakable and soundproof jar in my room.

I read on, "Remember to never let your enemies see you use either. If they find a way to counter them, you are liable to be caught unawares and end up dead." He had tried to emphasise the word 'dead' but it just made it look smudged.

"It's a useful tool in your arsenal, and remember, Constant. Vigilance" he underlined the last two words. "Sincerely, A.M." scrawled at the bottom there where the words "DO NOT SEND A REPLY!" Yet again there was another smattering of ink.

Taking Moody's sage advice, I spent the next few hours rummaging through my trunk to find anything remotely of use that I could fill my belt with. I should really have cleared this thing out at some point.

Of note I found some exploding snap cards, my dark detector, my unbreakable jar, Ezekiel, my emergency chocolate frog, Dungbombs and my Decoy Detonator. As well as a few spare buttons and my compass.

I spent the next few lessons begging Sprout for some useful herbs, as well as bothering Slughorn for Potion ingredients, I even considered trying to get Fawkes to cry for me, but that was wishful thinking.

To general indignation, later in the week, a sign went up on all common-room noticeboards that the next trip into Hogsmeade had been cancelled. Ron was furious. "It was on my birthday!" he said, "I was looking forward to that!"

"Not a big surprise, though, is it?" said Harry. "Not after what happened to Katie." She had still not returned from St. Mungo's. What was more, further disappearances had been reported in the Daily Prophet, including several relatives of students at Hogwarts.

"But now all I've got to look forward to is stupid Apparition!" said Ron grumpily. "Big birthday treat..." Appirition tests were going well, for me and a few others at least. The instructor now had me apparating to each corner of the Hall in sequence.

Not to brag but I had no trouble with it whatsoever. I had reached the point where I could apparate at will over short distances with little to no effort, it was basically just an hour that I get to muck about in and laugh at the others, with a few apparitions in between.

"Looks like Krum's days are numbered" I chuckled to Hermione, who was finding my new talent unbearable just because I managed to spook her a few times and was having much more luck then her.