The Boom Principle
Age 19 / 540 words
There was suprisingly small bang and the entire arena of the Department of Mysteries tertiary outdoor test arena was flooded with so much and so bright light that it leaked through the sixteen layers of wards and had nearby Muggles reporting UFO sightings for days. Half blinded even through their AutoDark goggles -- an unexpected side-benefit of the Creevey brothers ongoing experiments on lenses -- the onlookers could only just make out Dennis tumbling down out of the sky.
Shouts went up and half a dozen people cast levitation charms, all of which missed because Dennis, twisting in mid-air, managed to grab hold of a summoned broomstick, which promptly shot off wildly and turned what should have been a gentle float to the ground into a prolonged crash that left twenty-feet of grass shredded, a broom stuck through the stands just three inches to the left of Unspeakable Stone, and a mud-covered Dennis waving off mediwizards.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Emmett took the steps down two at a time and jogged out onto the field to meet him. "That didn't go right."
"It was a bit more volatile than I thought!" Dennis admitted. "Maybe I put too much copper in? But, I mean, at least it works in principle! I'm sure with proper modification we can adapt Bernardino's work!"
"I still think alchemy is a wishy-washy discipline," Emmett said, pulling Dennis to his feet.
"It's a perfectly valid system!" Dennis complained.
"Says the guy who never takes the simple approach to anything."
"I do too!"
"Uh-huh."
"I do!" Dennis frowned. "Actually, I think I can simplify the transmutation process because, right, if you consider Hindel's transfiguration as a specific case of Flamel's law, I reckon you can do a sort of arithmetical conversion to--"
"Is this your broom?" Stone interrupted them. "I think you broke it while narrowly missing killing me."
"I think it belongs to the Ministry!" Dennis said. "Hello! I'm Dennis Creevey! Who are you?"
"...you're disturbingly enthusiastic."
"Dennis," Emmett said, "this is Grace Stone. She's our new partner for field missions."
"We don't need backup!" Dennis said indignantly.
"Actually," Stone said, "you're my back-up. And Croaker gave me permission to curse either of you if it looked like you were going to blow something expensive up."
"We very rarely blow things up without reason!" Dennis said.
She stared at him. "You just blew up a light cell."
"I think it's the copper concentration because, see, it was quite clearly green and Bernardino said it should be greenish, and as I was just saying--"
"Is he always like this?" Stone asked.
Emmett nodded. "Don't worry though, by morning he'll be obsessing about something else entirely."
"I hope not," Stone said. "We have one of those inter-disciplinary function meetings, and I think we can sell this as a crowd-calming measure to the Aurors." They both stared at her. "What? I like explosions as much as the next Unspeakable."
"Unless it's Croaker," said Emmett.
"Unless it's Croaker," she agreed.
"Cool!" said Dennis. "Because we explode things all the time!"
"Dennis!" Emmett nudged him.
"What? We usually have a reason!"
Stone stared at him.
"Well, we do," Dennis said, defensively.
"...I can see this is going to be fun," she said.
Dennis beamed.
There was suprisingly small bang and the entire arena of the Department of Mysteries tertiary outdoor test arena was flooded with so much and so bright light that it leaked through the sixteen layers of wards and had nearby Muggles reporting UFO sightings for days. Half blinded even through their AutoDark goggles -- an unexpected side-benefit of the Creevey brothers ongoing experiments on lenses -- the onlookers could only just make out Dennis tumbling down out of the sky.
Shouts went up and half a dozen people cast levitation charms, all of which missed because Dennis, twisting in mid-air, managed to grab hold of a summoned broomstick, which promptly shot off wildly and turned what should have been a gentle float to the ground into a prolonged crash that left twenty-feet of grass shredded, a broom stuck through the stands just three inches to the left of Unspeakable Stone, and a mud-covered Dennis waving off mediwizards.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!"
Emmett took the steps down two at a time and jogged out onto the field to meet him. "That didn't go right."
"It was a bit more volatile than I thought!" Dennis admitted. "Maybe I put too much copper in? But, I mean, at least it works in principle! I'm sure with proper modification we can adapt Bernardino's work!"
"I still think alchemy is a wishy-washy discipline," Emmett said, pulling Dennis to his feet.
"It's a perfectly valid system!" Dennis complained.
"Says the guy who never takes the simple approach to anything."
"I do too!"
"Uh-huh."
"I do!" Dennis frowned. "Actually, I think I can simplify the transmutation process because, right, if you consider Hindel's transfiguration as a specific case of Flamel's law, I reckon you can do a sort of arithmetical conversion to--"
"Is this your broom?" Stone interrupted them. "I think you broke it while narrowly missing killing me."
"I think it belongs to the Ministry!" Dennis said. "Hello! I'm Dennis Creevey! Who are you?"
"...you're disturbingly enthusiastic."
"Dennis," Emmett said, "this is Grace Stone. She's our new partner for field missions."
"We don't need backup!" Dennis said indignantly.
"Actually," Stone said, "you're my back-up. And Croaker gave me permission to curse either of you if it looked like you were going to blow something expensive up."
"We very rarely blow things up without reason!" Dennis said.
She stared at him. "You just blew up a light cell."
"I think it's the copper concentration because, see, it was quite clearly green and Bernardino said it should be greenish, and as I was just saying--"
"Is he always like this?" Stone asked.
Emmett nodded. "Don't worry though, by morning he'll be obsessing about something else entirely."
"I hope not," Stone said. "We have one of those inter-disciplinary function meetings, and I think we can sell this as a crowd-calming measure to the Aurors." They both stared at her. "What? I like explosions as much as the next Unspeakable."
"Unless it's Croaker," said Emmett.
"Unless it's Croaker," she agreed.
"Cool!" said Dennis. "Because we explode things all the time!"
"Dennis!" Emmett nudged him.
"What? We usually have a reason!"
Stone stared at him.
"Well, we do," Dennis said, defensively.
"...I can see this is going to be fun," she said.
Dennis beamed.