It was a couple of weeks after Remus had returned to Hogwarts that Harry decided to experiment with an idea he'd been thinking about for a while. It was Monday, January 17th, but he didn't have to go to Ilvermorny that day because it was a legal holiday in the U. S. called Martin Luther King Day. All the schools, including the magical ones, were closed for the day or, in the cases of boarding schools, they just didn't have classes. This was a bit of a relief for Harry as it meant an extra day where he didn't have to use a portkey. After four months he'd finally learned how to stay on his feet without falling during the landing but he didn't like using them any more than before and he probably never would.
Professor Xavier had also given the X-Men the day off from training which worked out fine for what Harry wanted to do. He went looking for the professor and found him in his office after breakfast.
"Good morning professor" said Harry.
"Good morning Harry" said the professor, "how are you today?"
"I'm fine" said Harry.
"Glad to hear it. Now what can I do for you?"
"I would like to borrow the Danger Room for a bit" said Harry. The professor raised his eyebrows upon hearing that.
"Really?" he said, "for what purpose? I gave you the day off from training. Do you wish to train anyway?"
"Not exactly" said Harry, "I've been thinking over an idea I have and I'd like to experiment with it. The Danger Room is the best place to do it."
"And what would this experiment be?" asked Xavier.
"If you could first ask Sirius to come join us" said Harry, "I would appreciate it as I'm going to need his help." Xavier nodded and sent out a mental call. A minute later Sirius entered the office.
"Ah Sirius" said Xavier, "do have a seat. Harry is about to explain an idea he has that he says he'll need your help with."
"Oh?" said Sirius turning to Harry, "what's that pup?"
"I've been thinking" said Harry, "you know how you can stop a spell from hitting you by blocking it with a magic shield? Or a physical object? Well I was wondering if I could do the same thing with telekinesis. If I raise a telekinetic shield would it stop magic spells? Also could I grab a spell with my power and divert it?"
"Those are both good questions" said Xavier, "if you can it would help you a lot when you have to face magical opponents."
"Just what I was thinking" said Harry, "it would also be something Voldemort wouldn't expect when I have to face him. Sirius, if you're willing, I could use your help with this."
"Absolutely" said Sirius.
"I see now why you're asking to use the Danger Room" said Xavier, "you and Sirius may do so as long as I may monitor you."
"Of course" said Harry.
"Then go suit up" said Xavier, "and meet us in the Danger Room in 15 minutes."
Harry went back to his room and changed into his uniform. Lightning then began to head downstairs to the Danger Room. Outside his room he ran into Scott.
"I thought we didn't have training today" said Scott upon seeing Lightning.
"We don't" Lightning said, "the professor said I could use the Danger Room to experiment with an idea I had."
"I see" said Scott, "may I come watch?"
"If you want to" said Lightning as he started down the stairs with Scott alongside him, "I don't guarantee it'll work though."
At the bottom of the stairs they met Jean and Hank who asked the same questions as Scott had and received the same answers.
"If we're going to watch then I should also tell Bobby and Warren about this" said Jean. Scott nodded and Jean telepathically contacted the other two students.
"If we're all going to be there" said Hank, "then I think I'll suit up too and do some extra training after Lightning's finished with his experiments.
"I agree" said Scott, "let's all do that. See you in the Danger Room soon Lightning."
"I'll try not to start without you" said Lightning, "if the professor allows me to wait."
Lightning headed down the hall and entered the Danger Room to find Professor Xavier and Sirius waiting for him.
"Am I late?" asked Lightning.
"No" said the professor.
"Good" said Lightning, "I ran into some of the others on my way here and I think the rest of the team is going to join us very soon."
"That's fine" said Xavier, "and if they want some extra training today they may have it."
It wasn't long before the other X-Men arrived in the Danger Room. Once they were all there Xavier nodded at Lightning who turned to face everyone.
"Sirius and the professor already know what I'm doing" he said to his teammates, "I had the idea that I might be able to stop magic spells with telekinesis. The Danger Room is the best place to try this out."
"I see" said Beast, "if a telekinetic shield is strong enough it might have the same properties as a physical shield while it's in existence and be able to intercept spells."
"That's what I was thinking" said Lightning who moved to the center of the room, "now Sirius would you please send a spell at me so I can try it out?"
"Pup, there's no way I'm going to throw a spell directly at you" said Sirius, "I'd rather you use a testing dummy instead."
"Okay" said Lightning with a small shrug, "Professor, if you would?" Xavier pushed a button on his Danger Room control and a testing dummy slid out of the far wall. Lightning went to stand near it but remained a couple of meters to one side.
"This good?" he asked Sirius who nodded, "first I want you to throw a spell at the dummy. I won't try to stop it this time."
"Here goes" said Sirius and he sent a stinging hex at the dummy. They all saw it hit the dummy although there was no visible effects from it since the dummy was not alive.
"Good" said Lightning, "now I'm going to raise a weak telekinetic shield in front of the dummy. Send the spell again." Sirius fired off the hex again. This time when the spell hit a certain point about a meter in front of the dummy it suddenly slowed down a lot before eventually fizzling out as it hit the dummy.
"It seems to be working pup" said Sirius, "make your shield stronger."
Lightning did. This time the spell slowed down almost to a complete stop. It fizzled out before hitting the dummy.
"Was that the normal strength you usually use when making a shield?" asked Professor X.
"No" said Lightning, "it was still a bit below a normal strength shield. Let me raise the shield strength up to normal. Now try Sirius." This time the spell came to a complete stop as it hit the shield and promptly fizzled out.
"It works" said Lightning sounding pleased.
"That's excellent" said Xavier, "this time make the shield even stronger. Make it as strong as you can. Perhaps your shield can bounce the spell back at the caster if it's strong enough."
"That would be great" said Lighting who concentrated for a moment before nodding at Sirius.
"Everyone be prepared to get out of the way if this works" said Sirius who then cast the spell. It did work. Very well. When the spell hit the shield it bounced right back towards Sirius who ducked out of the way to let the spell hit the wall behind him.
"Congratulations pup" said Sirius, "it looks like you have a winner."
"Thanks Padfoot," said Lightning, "let's try it with some stronger spells now."
"Okay" said Sirius who moved to one side, "I'm going to cast from over here so the spell hits the shield at an angle. I don't want it to bounce back at any of us."
"Sensible" said Xavier.
"I'm not concerned about them bouncing back right now" said Lightning, "just stopping them. I'm putting my shield at normal strength. If normal strength stops them we can be pretty sure top strength will bounce them."
Sirius fired a stronger spell at the shield. It hit the shield and stopped. Then he fired another with the same result. He powered up the spells even more but every one of them was stopped by the shield.
"Okay Harry" said Sirius, "I'm going to try a spell chain this time." He fired several spells in quick succession. The shield held but it took a bit more concentration from Lightning to keep it up. He made the shield top strength and gestured for Sirius to go again. This time when the spells hit the shield they bounced away from it at an angle toward the other side of the room from where Sirius was.
"Okay that's enough" said Lightning taking some deep breaths when Sirius stopped his casting, "I'm glad it works but I'll have to practice it to get the shield to hold for longer with less effort."
"I'll help you any time you want pup" said Sirius.
"Thanks" said Lightning, "now there's just one more thing I want to try. Cyclops will you please blast my shield? I'm going to make it full strength for this." Cyclops opened his visor and fired at the shield. It did stop his optic blasts but it was a major effort on Lightning's part to maintain the shield. He soon signaled for Cyclops to stop.
"Thank you" he said breathing hard and bending over a bit so his hands were on his knees, "that was hard. Still, I'm glad to see I can stop even your power, although not for very long."
"Keep working on it" said Cyclops, "you'll do better in the future."
"That would be nice" said Lightning, "although I don't know why I'd ever need to stop you."
"You never know" said Iceman.
"True" said Lightning before turning to the professor, "I'm done experimenting for now professor. What do you think?"
"I think you've gained a very useful defensive weapon" said Xavier.
"Could you teach me to do that?" asked Marvel Girl.
"Sure" said Lightning, "between the two of us we might be able to create a shield stronger than either of us could do individually."
"We haven't tried it with the unforgivables" pointed out Sirius, "I don't want to use those spells with other people in the room just in case they hit someone."
"What are the unforgiveables?" asked Angel.
"Three curses which will get you sent to prison for life if you use them on a person" said Sirius, "the Imperius curse allows you to control a person's mind and order them around against their will, the Cruciatus curse is the torture curse and causes an unbelievable amount of pain, and finally Avada Kedavra which is the killing curse and Voldemort's favorite spell. It can't be magically blocked so I'm not sure if Lightning's shield can block it either."
"We can find out another day" said Xavier, "now my X-Men since you're all here and in uniform you may begin your extra training. Lightning, after what you've just done you're excused if you wish."
"Thanks professor," said Lightning, "I could use a bit of a rest. I'll stay and watch though."
While the other X-Men went through their paces Lightning talked with Sirius about what they'd just done.
"Do you think my shield can stop the unforgivables?" Lightning asked.
"Maybe" said Sirius, "if you can actually stop the killing curse I would advise you to keep that secret so Voldemort and his Death Eaters don't hear about it."
"That makes sense" said Lightning, "you'll help me work on this some more?"
"Of course" said Sirius, "I'm happy to be able to help you with your training. I'll work with Jean too so she can learn it."
"Thanks Padfoot" said Lightning as he turned back to watch the rest of his teammates' training session, "why not start now?" Sirius nodded his agreement. The Professor, who had been nearby and heard their talk called Marvel Girl over and soon, copying what Lightning had done earlier, she was making her own shields for Sirius to cast spells at. She didn't make them top strength though since bouncing spells back ran the risk of hitting any of the X-Men who happened to be nearby. Instead she focused on stopping the spells and having them fizzle out on the shield. It didn't take her long to get the hang of this as she already knew the technique would work. Then she and Lightning combined forces and started making joint shields that were stronger than either of them could make on their own. By the time the training session was done they had created a shield that was strong enough to hold back Cyclops' optic blasts for an extended period of time although it was still taxing for them to do this.
All in all the shield was a big success and Lightning was very pleased by the results of his experiments. He wondered how long it would be before he would have to use it.