A figure on the opposite side of the back row raised its hand.
"Yes, Miss Black?"
"It's a dark magic detection device. My father sometimes gives them to people in his job."
Ginny's hand trailed to her necklace, almost without thinking.
"Excellent, well done." Lady Lily waved the device again. "The DMLE uses these to check muggle places for magical items that have been created with the purpose of causing harm. Now, why would this help with that?"
A boy in the front row raised his hand.
"Yes, Mister Hargreaves?"
"Dark magic is magic cast with the intent to cause harm."
"Exactly. That is what we call the magical definition of dark magic, as opposed to the legal definition. It is the responsibility of everyone in the magical world-that includes all you children-to ensure no bad magical items end up in the hands of muggles."
A girl in middle raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Fawcett?"
"What about normal magical items? Isn't it bad if the muggles find them?"
Lady Lily put down the dark magic detector and treated Miss Fawcett to the smile teachers give students who've just given them a perfect subject transition opportunity. "Yes, and it's important to keep magical items out of the hands of muggles, but most of the time, it isn't crime to let a muggle get a hold of one. Much like the entrances to the magical world, like Platform 9 and 3/4 and the Leaky Cauldron, wizards who make magical items, like chocolate frogs and gob-stones, are required to build in anti-muggle magics into them that only run out when the magic in the product itself does."
She turned and wrote on the board. "THE PLACE OF THE WIZARDING WORLD IN THE GREATER MUGGLE WORLD."
They spent the next half hour discussing how the magical world kept itself secret and how they were expected to help ensure it remained so. The general message was that everything was a-okay and that the magical world was totally on top of everything.
Ginny eyes, though, kept straying back to the dark magic detection device on the table. She just couldn't help it.
Eventually, Lady Lily asked them if they had any questions before mid morning break.
Ginny raised her hand.
Lady Lily looked mildly surprised. "Yes, Miss Weasley?"
"If something was originally charmed with intent to cause harm, but then someone else used the thing with intent to help or cause good, would the thing still read as dark magic?"
Lady Lily bit her lip. "A very good question." She looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure, but I suspect it would depend on where the magic came from. If the magic came from a plant, it probably would. But if it was channelled through the wizards own magic, it probably wouldn't. But, on the other hand…"-She tapped the desk with her chalk-"If the item was parasitic, and used the magic of someone other than the 'user', then I don't know. It would probably change on a case by case basis, depending on…" She paused and seemed to realise she was rambling. "Well, anyway." She put the chalk down and shuffled parchments. "It might. Thank you for the question. See you all after the break in twenty minutes."
The class got up and made its way out of the classroom. Ginny made to follow them too, but not before catching the eye of a certain Black heiress, who quickly averted her eyes and pretended that she hadn't been staring at her.
Ginny arrived back home later that afternoon to another pile of chores courtesy of a small group of cows who'd wandered onto Burrow land. Damn them. She'd just finished forking the resultant harvest into the now steaming compost heap when her mum called her into dinner with orders to wash her hands no more than three times.
Straight after dinner, her mum handed her a shaft of wood with a sweep-bent bunch of twigs at the bottom and the news that today was floor sweeping day.
Ginny fought back a scowl. Was she trying to mock her? What followed was definitely the most boring hour with a broom she'd ever had, and it wasn't only last night's all-night session with Harry that caused her to catch a nap straight after.
Later that night, Ginny lay in bed, staring at her bedroom ceiling, and listening for the tell-tale lack of sound that would indicate her parents had turned in. When she was sure they'd fallen asleep, she quietly slipped out of bed and got back dressed, pulling on the rag-tag assortment of muggle and wizarding clothes, which she charitably called her duelling outfit. Tonight, she swore, Luna was going down.
She opened her bedroom door without a creak. The landing was silent. Ginny knew all the stairs by heart and her descent was as quiet as her stride. She padded over to the back door, carefully raised the latch, and slipped outside.
The night was black. Clouds blocked the moon from lighting the path and Ginny spent a few moments letting her eyes get used to the darkness.
The path was a mixture of gravel, broken up by the occasional oddly shaped paving stone. Ginny hopped from stone to stone, always careful to keep her feet from making any sounds. She reached the end of the path.
"Lumos!"
Ginny's heart leapt into her throat. She swung around and flinched away from the light that washed over her.
"Ginny! What are you doing?!" her mother's voice shouted, shrill and angry.
Ginny's stomach dropped.
Oooooooh bugger.
...
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