Faster than she wanted it to Tuesday evening arrived and she was set for her final meeting with Flitwick. There was one last thing to be decided and she hoped she could manage the desperately needed advice from her Charms professor without ruining all of their plans.

Daphne thought she had noticed Flitwick raise his eyebrows in suspicion at a few of her questions over the past several weeks but she had dismissed it as her own paranoia. In the end it didn't matter...her discussions with the Professor had been revelatory and crucial to the progress she had made so far. The questions she still needed to ask were by far the riskiest she had tried but it needed to be done. Harry had taken a calculated risk on Daphne and she was going to take a calculated risk on Flitwick. She hoped she was right.

After fifteen minutes of innocuous discussion Daphne started testing the waters of her 'project' questions.

"I had a question about intent, Professor," Daphne began nonchalantly, "specifically the intent Harry's magic could have had on the success of the protection under different scenarios."

Daphne continued, she could tell she had her professor intrigued. "When his parents were murdered Harry was too young at the time to have a concept of life or death. He would have been confused and scared but he wouldn't know the full impact of what was happening at the time. But what if he were older, say ten? Knowing your father was most likely dead and your mother was about to die I would think he would be scared but also hopeless...maybe not even wanting to live knowing his parents were going to be dead."

Flitwick steepled his fingers as he considered the question. "A very interesting hypothesis. If Harry was truly hopeless...lost the will to live so to speak... and did not see a reason to continue living without his parents than he could have hindered his parent's protection. That hopelessness, that unwillingness to fight would most definitely have an impact I believe."

Daphne's heart sank as Flitwick confirmed her own thoughts based on what she had learned from the experiments channeling Harry's magic. Time for the even riskier question...she dreaded the answer. She needed as much input as possible but desperately hoped she was wrong.

"Starting with the same scenario what if Harry had suffered and nearly died multiple times at that point and just assumed he would die soon and was ready? Would he be even more susceptible?"

Flitwick appraised her suspiciously. "That is a very specific scenario Miss Greengrass. Is there a reason beyond just your project that you are asking this?"

Shit. He was back to using her last name again. Not good.

She couldn't admit the truth without breaking the oath. She could lie but Flitwick was too smart and was already suspicious. She would most likely not get a real answer.

She took a drink of her tea to calm her nerves, considering what to say. Should she be as honest as possible or should she lie? She had to know. She took a risk.

"I'm not at liberty to say, professor," she calmly replied, willing him to understand.

"You sound like someone under the terms of an oath, Daphne," he observed.

Daphne silently cheered. "I'm not at liberty to say, professor," she repeated.

Flitwick nodded and continued the questioning. "Are you seeking a way to kill Harry in service of Voldemort?"

"Of course not!" she angrily replied, losing all semblance of the cool facade she had studiously maintained.

He smiled, seemingly reassured by her reaction. Still thinking, still considering. "So you are asking in an effort to help Harry?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," she repeated, calm once again.

"Are you hoping to sacrifice yourself in some way to help Harry?" he asked.

"No sir," she answered immediately, thrilled that he was still asking her questions and not having her expelled.

After several moments of contemplation he inexplicably hopped off his chair. He quickly disappeared into an adjoining room and Daphne's heart sank. Was he summoning the Headmaster? She vaguely heard the sounds of drawers being opened and closed but thought it might be her hopeful imagination. Drawer opening was infinitely preferred to Headmaster summoning.

After several torturous minutes he returned with what looked to be some sort of journal in his hand. He climbed back into his seat and dropped it on the desk. "Page 64," he commanded.

She picked up the journal and turned to the dog eared page as directed. It documented a medical trial that attempted to use magic to kill cancer cells in muggles affected by the disease.

"Wouldn't this have violated the Statute of Secrecy?" she asked as she skimmed through the article.

"The study was limited only to those who were already aware of magic...squibs, non magical spouses or family members of someone with magic," he answered. "I will let you keep this to draw your own conclusions but there were two different details that I found most fascinating."

"First," he continued, "before the study began it was believed that those in the best of health...those who were in better shape physically would show the most signs of success but there seemed to be an even greater factor at play. Those with young families or greater intrinsic motivations to live had a much greater success rate. It was theorized that their will to live 'helped' the magic's focus and direction. Those that were resigned to their fate...were no longer fighting...died at a much quicker rate than if they had received no treatment. The destructive power of the magic involved consumed them, healthy and diseased cells alike."

"How is this not more well known?" Daphne exclaimed.

"That brings me to the second detail I find most intriguing," he stated as he leaned back in contemplation.

"The study was abandoned as it was determined there was no practical application of the magic. You see after the Healers applying the treatment started losing patients their magic began refusing to cooperate. Simply put they lost the ability to cast the spell, their magic unwilling to risk the death of those they were treating despite the patient's willingness to participate in the study. The very thing that inspired witches and wizards to become healers...the desire to preserve life... worked against them.

"Intent trumps all," Daphne observed.

"Exactly," he continued. "The study was abandoned as the successes were short lived as healers lost the ability to cast the spell once they felt the impact....the weight of their potential failure."

"Similar to Expecto Patronum," she interjected.

He nodded his head in agreement, taking another sip of tea. "I've often wondered what would have happened if the healers had been Obliviated or false memories were planted so they weren't aware of their failures. I believe they would have been able to cast the spell...perhaps not as well because of the false memories. Alas we will never know."

They sat silently for several minutes as Daphne read through the article and thought about Flitwick's observations...confirming everything she had been worrying about and more. She already knew this wasn't going to be easy but what she had learned in the last few minutes set her plans in motion. All that was left was to convince Harry.

Daphne had no idea how much actual time had passed before she gathered herself and remembered where she was. She looked up to see Flitwick patiently waiting, a sad smile on his face.

"Thank you sir...I think you've answered all the questions I had," she answered robotically and began gathering her things. She suddenly was very tired.

As she made her way to the door the professor spoke again. "Daphne, if you need to speak to me about your project at any time. Please don't hesitate," he offered sincerely.

She nodded her head and slowly walked out the door more certain of what had to be done but now less certain she could pull it off.