The Traitors [HP6] *EDITING*

Chapter 7

"Dumbledore?" exclaimed the entire class together. The old man jumped back in surprise from hearing his name said by so many people at once.

"Yes, that is my name," he said.

"You... you're our teacher?" asked one student in surprise.

"You didn't think all I did around here was sign papers and nod my head when

people do a job well done?" he asked them. No one said a word. "So, are you saying you're unhappy to see me?"

"No!" said everyone immediately. Dumbledore smiled at them.

"Oh good," he grinned. "Now, time for class to begin. I'm sure that many of you have heard that this class is extremely hard, almost impossible. Well, I can say that I am behind all of those terrible rumors, but that is just to deter as many as possible from taking this class, because not many possess the talent necessary to do this, and I don't want a hundred little students running around with only a half idea on how to make spells. I would rather have only a handful be an expert at it."

With that, he walked over to his desk at the front of the room, opened a drawer, and took out a small cauldron. He placed it on the top of the desk where everyone could see it.

"This," he said, "is a Ordinator Potion. From this concoction, all spells are created, made, and altered." He took out his wand, and pointed it at the rather calm concoction inside. "Let me show you what a simple MMSC Code looks like. Lumos!" The spell, rather than creating a small beam of light, came out as a thick cloud and flowed right into the potion, making it turn a bright yellow.

"The spell is now inside the potion, and is completely changeable. But, before we alter it just yet, let me show you what code makes this spell up in the first place. Ordinatum!" No beam came out of the wand, but a holographic screen popped right out of the potion, and projected itself into the air. It looked like a Muggle computer or television screen, only larger and perfectly flat. Then, Harry noticed, there were words on the screen:

(Light Spell) <lumos>

[size] 1

[see]light = light + 100 [smell]none [hear]none

[taste]none [touch]none

Harry had no idea what it meant, but before he could try to make sense of it, Dumbledore started explaining it.

"This is the MMSC Code, the code that tells what should happen as soon as you summon this spell. At the top, in comment parentheses, is the name of the spell, and below it, in the greater than and less than signs, is what you say to use the spell. Usually, a word not heard in normal speech is used, to try and prevent people from accidentally using spells while engaging in conversation. So, words from other languages are used, mostly obscure ones like Latin, though some still prefer French, Japanese, Greek, or even English even though they are still in use today.

"Below that part is where the real fun begins. The size part tells how big the beam is. In Lumos' case, the beam is relatively small, the standard size. The larger the beam, the more magical energy it takes to use the spell.

"And below that indicates what the spell does. The spell can produce something that you see when you use it, smell when you use it, hear when you use it or when it hits you target, taste when you eat it, or feel when you use it or when your target is it with it. Now, Lumos does not do anything except produce a beam of light, so it does not require more than a single line of code, and minimal magical energy. The 'light = light +100' part shows that when you use it, it creates a thin beam, as indicated by the size, that increases the light in the area of that beam by one hundred. The more lines of code that are used and the higher the numbers, the more magical energy is drained upon summoning the spell. Now, any questions?" Hermione, of course, raised her hand.