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IS - Chapter 159: Thirteen Layers
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 10:10:32 +0000 UTCDisclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
-Author notes-
Chapter 159: Thirteen Layers
“Tenth layer!” James shouted as he sent more of the enchanted alloy into the divine piece of leather.
This one continued to assimilate all the materials that James and his clones were sending it, with no apparent issues, becoming more resilient with every addition.
James was already starting to feel exhausted, and his remaining clones were also reaching their limits. But stopping here was not an option.
He had decided on thirteen layers because it was a very significant magical number.
There was power in words, symbols, and numbers. And of all of them, thirteen was considered the most dangerous, so much so that even Muggles felt its effects on occasion, even though they could not wield or see magic.
“Eleventh layer!” James moved another piece of molten glintmetal while shaping it simultaneously.
The runes engraved on the leather were serving as a bridge, helping it assimilate the special properties of the metal.
However, this process would have immediately failed after the first layer if that had been a common piece of leather.
Even skin taken from an ancient dragon would not have lasted more than six layers of glintmetal before falling apart under the intense heat.
However, this piece of leather had already taken eleven, and James was sure it would have no problem taking the remaining two.
In fact, James was convinced that it would be able to sustain much more than this; however, the process was constrained by his own human limits.
“Twelfth layer!” James clenched his teeth. His muscles ached and trembled, and his vision was starting to get blurry.
‘Just one more… come on. You can do this.’
At that moment, he received a mental warning. The clone that was holding the piece of divine leather in place had been dispelled.
James had to act quickly, as the leather needed to remain in place until the process was complete. Any changes would affect the final result.
“Tsk!” James clenched his muscles and pushed more magic from his left hand to reinforce the charm that kept the leather steady, while at the same time, he began to move the last glob of glintmetal towards him.
The remaining clone soon dispersed as well, as it no longer had enough magic to sustain itself, leaving him to finish the process alone.
“Master!” Nyxaris exclaimed, realizing that her Master was in a bad situation.
“Kyu!” Primum flew towards the center of the chamber, quickly followed by the fairy.
“Master, what do we do?” she asked.
“Give it a push,” James instructed them. He no longer had the power to move the metal.
Primum dived with no hesitation and rammed his body against the molten piece of enchanted metal.
Despite its small size, this piece alone already weighed several tons—not to mention that the surface was at over ten thousand degrees.
Primum’s skin was resistant, but not enough to avoid suffering damage from something like this. Still, the little creature pushed past the pain and continued.
“Magno Depulso!” Nyxaris joined in and used power to help move it.
With their joint effort, they managed to move the enchanted metal until it reached the piece of leather that James was holding.
He used the remainder of his energy to shape the metal and wrap it around the divine leather.
“Thirteenth… layer… complete.”
The golden flames burning at the center of the chamber were exhausted just as James felt his vision starting to darken.
The last thing he saw was the glow being emitted by the leather as it levitated before him.
“We… did it.” That was the last thing he could say before passing out.
<><><><><><><><><><>
“Where is James?” Lily asked when she saw Sirius, Peter, and Remus arrive at the Great Hall during dinner.
“Yeah, wasn’t he also missing during lunch?” Alice glanced to her side.
“Now that you mention it…” Frank looked pensive.
“About that.” Sirius sat down.
“We don’t know either,” Peter added, showing concern on his face.
“We’ve been looking for him all afternoon,” Remus sighed.
“I mean, he usually disappears on weekends so he can work on his… projects,” Sirius said.
“He wouldn’t miss lunch and dinner without giving us a warning, at least. He always tells us when he’s going to be away for too long,” Peter pointed out.
“What is he working on?” Lily leaned closer to them and whispered.
The Marauders exchanged a look.
“We don’t know,” Remus responded.
Seeing that Lily didn’t appear to be too convinced, Sirius spoke next.
“This time, we really don’t know. We don’t even know where his…” He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. “We don’t even know where his new lab is…” he said in a soft whisper.
“After what happened the last time, he didn’t want us to get too involved in that. I mean, he almost got expelled,” Peter explained.
“And because of that, now we have no idea where he could be.” Remus avoided telling them that they couldn’t even find James on the Marauder’s Map. They hadn’t completed it yet, but it was already able to track down the positions of the professors and themselves.
However, James did not appear on the map at all.
“Could he have left the castle?” Peter asked. It was the only thing they hadn't considered.
“What are you talking about? No one can leave the castle premises during the school year,” Lily told him. “It’s against the rules.”
“Of course, and James always respects the school rules…” Alice rolled her eyes.
“No, he wouldn’t leave the castle without saying a word,” Remus was sure of that.
“He must be somewhere we cannot see him… a concealed room. This castle must have a few of those at least,” Sirius muttered before looking toward the Slytherin table.
They didn’t know where James’s secret lab was located, but there was someone over there who could.
“Bella…” Sirius finally said.
