Chapter 10
By the time term started, Nick had almost forgotten that Lockhart was gone and Mao was taking his place. That was, until he walked into what appeared to be an exact replica of Mao's lower garden back in China, rather than the usual dreary looking defense classroom, a small river ran down the center of the room and ended in a tiny fish pond.
The class was abuzz as everyone wondered into the classroom. Marcus dragged Nick over to a set of plush blue pillows laid out on the grass to sit on. Eddie and Hugo found themselves brown patterned pillows under a Cherry tree by the side wall.
The whole class, minus Nick, was positively ecstatic for the change in class. Nick was not fooled though. He knew perfectly well the level of work Professor Mao would require, and it would be nothing short of hell. Even Professor Mcgonagall's class would be laughably easy comparatively.
The class started much the same way most classes started in September. Professor Mao talked at length of what they should expect this term for work, and of course, what was expected in terms of classroom behaviour and routines. Once expectations were set, Mao introduced everyone to meditation, which every future DADA class would begin with. The class was first taught how to meditate, then how to create a Mindscape where students could go to when meditating.
"Focus on your breath," Mao's voice flickered through the room, blending with the river that ran through the center of the room. Like a melody, the phrase was repeated as the class closed their eyes and concentrated. Well, most concentrated, a few quickly began to nod off.
A movement to Nick's right tugged him out of his meditation. Marcus was slumped onto his side, he eyes darting around the room bewilderedly. Nick tried not to snort in laughter as Marcus righted himself and turned his attention back to Professor Mao, "Focus on your chest as your breath in, feel the air enter your lungs. Let it say for a moment. Release."
The class slowly drifted into peaceful mediation. "Leave your breath now and enter your mind. Find the expanse of your mind, is it white? black? Grey? Focus on what you see." Nick immediately knew what was going on, Mao was teaching them about Mindscapes.
Mao had taught Nick how to meditate when Nick was very young. In fact, it was even before his parents died when he first started learning meditation.
"Create an edge to your mind. Bring the never ending ness into a marble. Feel it, This is you mind. How does it feel?-"
While at Hogwarts, Nick had largely ignored old daily routines such as meditation, and he was starting to realise how his failing to relax or to sort his mind had only added to the first term's stress.
"-What tempature is it? Let it expand, let it create a world for you to explore. Let your mind create place for itself within you…"
Mao carried on, leading Students through their very first exploration of their mindscape, not yet building, changing, or altering anything. Nick, however, leaped right into his mind and got to work tidying up.
Nick's mind was based of his maternal grandparent's cabin. He had spent a period of time there between his parents death and his being moved in with his aunt. The Cabin itself sat in the center of a grove of stocky white barked trees. On the edge of his mind sat three things: a set of twin mountains, a valley of flowers, and a waterfall that started from a tall rock and ended in a pond that went nowhere but down.
The first thing Nick checked was the water fall, near the base of the waterfall sat a conspicuous pool of inky black oil. Peering over the rocky ledge, Nick witnessed an alarmingly angry version of himself, smashing at the surface with relentless fists, as if trying to break free and cause him mayhem.
How does one clean up an oil spill in one's mind?
Nick tried cupping his hands and, after a quick visit to the cabin for a cloth, dumping the oil on to the cloth, but the oil slipped through his hands and back into the water. The enraged version of himself only grew angrier.
Nick waved it off. What good was this doing? If anything, Mao might be able to enter his mind using Occlumency later on and help him deal with the issue. But for the time being, Nick wandered around his mind just a little while longer, picking up random thoughts and memories and putting them back where they belonged.
A letter sat fluttering in the branches of one of the white oak trees. Nick plucked it up, and found it contained nearly all his memories with Luna. He took the thick envelope back the cabin to place on the bookshelf, safe and sound.
Nick went back to wandering outside, looking for other things to tidy up. A pile of pages lay forgotten on the forest floor at the base of a mountain, not far from the cabin at all. Upon further inspection, Nick noted that the pages represented all the English he had learned at Hogwarts thus far. Some of the pages were organized in a book already, but there were still a lot of loose pages that needed to be filed and sorted through.
Nick had only just placed the English book in his book shelf when a bird landed on the window, letting out an alarming cry that sounded suspiciously like the class bell.
Nick concentrated on his body and with a stiff groan, he found himself no longer in his peaceful mindscape but back in the DADA classroom, just in time to get to his next class.
Marcus, Eddie and Hugo hovered over Nick, all waiting patiently for Nick to collect his things for the next class.
"Did you hear what he assigned us?" Hugo asked in outrage, once they were safely several corridors away from the DADA class.
Nick shook his head.
Hugo puffed out his chest and flung his arms in the air, "Forty-four inches on the best practices for constructing and maintaining a mindscape. Due next class"
Nick smirked knowingly, "Four standard pages? It could be worse- will be worse."
Hugo looked ready to blow a fuse, while Marcus and Eddie both let out a long string of angry comments towards the new professor. Marcus's spiel was both longer and more... creative than Eddie's.
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The following weeks carried on in a flurry of homework and quidditch practice. What precious free time Nick did have was spent brewing potions for the twins or practicing Parseltongue with Harry.
Ron and Hermione often accompanied Harry to the Parseltongue library but the two worked on their own assignments or, when Ron could manage to convince Hermione to take a break, the pair played exploding snaps.
Nick tried to spend at least an hour or so once or twice a week with Luna in the library, but if the quidditch captain ever spotted Nick outside of class he was often dragged outside to practice. He couldn't catch a break.
By the time the third weekend of February rolled around, Nick was about ready cast an Incendio and burn down the stupid quidditch pitch.
Harry and Ron didn't understand. They were both envious of the intense workout schedule the Ravenclaw team was under, wishing Gryffindor could be just as well-prepared. Hermione was very sympathetic, however, and on more than one occasion she managed to save Nick from a particularly grueling quidditch practice.
When the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin game did finally roll around, most of the Ravenclaw team just wanted the damned match over and done with.
Nick was surprised to see the twins, Ron and Hermione all in the stands, cheering their hardest for Ravenclaw. A spattering of the Slytherins whom Nick tutored in potions even showed up to watch. Which, for Nick, was beyond weird. Had they all become friends at some point? Surely if they were simply in a mutually-academically-beneficial relationship, then there was no need to attend each other's quidditch games. It was not a friendship, he told himself, just an 'acquaintanceship.'
Nick spotted the Carrow sisters and wondered if they had managed to drag a few choice Slytherins along with them. The Carrow sisters, after all, were at the very least acquaintances or associates, if not loosely-termed friends.
Still, house pride and all should mean that the Carrow sisters were on the other side of the stadium, with their own house.
Nick tried not to think about it as the game progressed.
The seeker for the opposing team was mediocre at best, but the chasers and beater for Slytherin were brutal. Marcus Flint was more than happy to risk life and limb of his opponent to win the game.
Nick was not even remotely as passionate about any school sport enough to land himself in the hospital just for a win. However, when Marcus Flint gave Nick a very knowing grin, Nick's hackles went up. What had the slytherin captain heard- or thought he'd heard- that justified that intense smirk? That kind of look was the look a predator gives its prey, right before it strikes. It said, "I know just enough to destroy you"
As much as it unnerved Nick to see the quick smirk, he also realized that Marcus Flint could truly have enough on Nick to destroy him. And that scared the shit out of him.
Knowing someone like Oliver Wood was able to destroy him wasn't quite as intimidating, seeing as Oliver had no reason to hate Nick in the least. Not to mention the fact that Oliver seemed to want everything hidden far more than Nick did.
Grant Page's threat to annihilate Nick with such a simple act was more insulting than actually threatening. Nick had assumed earlier that Grant was a friend, but then to have the boy threatening to destroy Nick's chances of schooling at Hogwarts, to his teasing to reveal what could very well land Nick in Azkaban without a thought, hurt Nick more than it frightened him.
If Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin team, knew one- or any- of Nick's secrets, he had neither reason to keep the secrets nor to fear retribution from Nick at all. The only thing keeping Nick in Marcus's good books was, to Nick's knowledge, the praise of Professor Snape, and the fact that the Ravenclaw boy tutored a good portion of the Slytherin house in potions. But seeing as how many of those he tutored were now traitorously cheering for Ravenclaw, suddenly Marcus had real motive to ruin Nick's life. Gods above and Merlin have mercy, Nick hoped that whatever Marcus knew wasn't that incriminating.
In the mean-time, the best thing Nick could do was convince the Slytherin captain that he was, in fact, a force to be reckoned with, and therefore not worth angering. So Nick set to work employing every quidditch lesson, narrow escape from a dragon and dodging of rockslides via handmade broomstick Nick had to score an unholy amount of times.
On his own, Nick managed to get the Ravenclaw team one hundred points. Although, with well-timed assists and expertly maneuvered distractions Nick helped secure another sixty points. The other two Ravenclaw chasers were not to be outdone. They managed to score several times on their own, adding an additional eighty points. When the Slytherin seeker managed to finally catch the snitch, the Ravenclaw team was still well in the lead by 210 points.
Though Marcus Flint looked absolutely pissed, he had long stopped sending Nick threatening glares.
"I thought you said you didn't like quidditch?" one of the Ravenclaw beaters snickered when they all finally made their way into the changing rooms, the game blessedly over, with the Ravenclaw team as the champions.
Nick tried to force his arm to stop throbbing. At least two bludgers had been walloped into his side with great speed (thankfully not cracking any ribs), along with several aggressive shoves by the Slytherin chasers. That, coupled with the many stunts Nick had pulled in order to get possession of the quaffle left him feeling as if his arms had been pulled out of their sockets and shoved forcefully back in. Several times.
Nick pulled the sweat-soaked robes off over his head. "I do not, I just didn't want to lose…" Nick knew he didn't sound even the least bit convincing to anyone.
"You weren't that into it in for the first part" Grant pointed out with an eyebrow raised. A few others nodded in agreement as they discarded their own sweaty robes.
Nick looked up at Grant in mild surprise. They hadn't spoken one word since the party, why now? Because of quidditch? Grant sneered slightly when Nick meet his gaze though, which Nick supposed meant that the older boy was still disgusted with him.
"Yeah, what changed your mind?" The captain asked with genuine curiosity. Nick had no doubt that the captain intended to research and study quidditch in some academic sense after he graduated. "What was your motivation?" The captain questioned sternly. Nick could just see the captain taking notes in his mind for later.
"I..Marcus Flint. He seems to know something. I didn't want him to think I should be underestimated."
The entire team burst out laughing. Really? Laughing? It wasn't really fair, in Nick's opinion.
"Nick, you jumped off your broom to intercept a pass. Then non-verbally and wandlessly summoned your broom. I don't think anyone is going to underestimate you."
Someone else laughed again. "The look on Professor McGonagall's face when you transfigured your broom into a half-dragon and had it attack Marcus Flint for a few seconds, just so I could score? I seriously thought she was going to die of either shock or laughter. Or both." One of the other chaser grinned madly. "Also thought she was gonna disqualify you for sure, but I guess there's nothing in the rule books about turning brooms into dragons, eh?"
"He doesn't really know anything" Grant rebutted, aggressive . The team stilled and looked on in silent shock. "Marcus Flint, I mean. He doesn't really Know anything, trust me. Apparently he heard from some idiot Slytherins that you fancy Cassandra Elphinstone."
"...Who?" Nick asked, not recognising the name.
A water bottle sailed out of nowhere and struck Nick in the back of the head, effectively grabbing his attention. "Oi! What do you mean, who?" a feminine voice coming from the back of the room griped, very much offended. "We've been on the same team for months!" one of the beaters, long hair tied back in a frizzed ponytail, was snapping at Nick indignantly. Clearly, the girl was Cassandra.
Nick muttered a very embarrassed apology before gathering his robes and scuttling away to the showers. The rest of the team howled with laugher as Cassandra dove into an angry tirade about being the unnoticed, solitary girl on the team. No one tried to get within close range of her. Being a beater and all, she had a rather nice arm on her and was not to be messed with.
The twins were waiting impatiently when Nick managed to dodge his way out of the changing rooms. "What was that? Where did you learn to do all that?" One of the twins asked.
"Home schooled." Nick said, as if this explained everything.
One of the Twins snorted, "Wandless magic, huh? Part of vampire's standard home schooling practice?"
Nick grinned, "Naturally. It is just after the Mermish classes and just before the Dragon taming classes."
"...You're joking right?"
Nick's grin only grew. He had after all taken a few crash courses on mermish and Dragon diplomacy.
"You can teach us though, right?" Fred asked.
Nick blinked in surprise, "Why?"
The twins gave an exasperated sigh as Nick led the way to the staircase and down to the parseltongue library. "Um, because it was wicked! At least teach us some wandless magic."
"Sure... ok. Come to the library with Harry, Ron and Hermione after dinner in the evenings. I am teaching Harry Parselscript and Parselmagic anyways." Nick shrugged, then let the matter drop.
The twins whooped with joy and bounced around Nick like five-year-olds in a candy store.
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March was spent very much like January and February with intense DADA classes, evening study groups in the Parseltongue library and quidditch practice when every the Ravenclaw captain caught Nick out of class.
On the days when Nick couldn't seem to find time to sit and talk with Luna, the girl found her way to the Parseltongue library herself. Despite Luna's not being a parseltongue and therefore not able to actually speak the password, Salazar always let Luna in. She was an exception.
It was during the very first week of March, shortly after dinner as the group had all settled down to study, when a very panicked Luna Lovegood crashed through the portrait hole.
She panted and gasped as she tried to explain herself. Her usual air of blissful serenity was completely gone which, in and of itself was incredibly shocking to witness. "Ginny, Ginny Weasley was taken to the Chamber of Secrets. They said they were going to kill her!"
Everyone in the room stilled.
"Professor Mao looked furious but he didn't go down to the dungeons, he just left! He left the castle!"
"What do you mean, left? Why isn't he helping my sister?" Ron demanded, his question aimed at Nick. Panic rose up in the Weasley's throat while he stared daggers at the Ravenclaw for answers, as if Nick somehow knew.
Nick was taken aback, what on earth was he supposed to do about it? "I don't know. He must have a plan." He quirked his head towards Harry.
"Can't we do something?" Harry asked, seeming to catch onto Ron's desperation. Nick shook his head, "We don't know how to break the bond."
"But if Tom Riddle is down there, can't we stop him somehow?" Ron asked.
The twins looked equally eager to rush into danger, Nick tried looking at Luna for help calming the group, but she was clearly distraught and anguished for friend. It struck Nick then that he and Ginny were Luna's only real friends. Ginny was more so, since the girls had been close ever since they were very small. It was likely that Ginny had helped Luna through the death of her mother and supported her when the rest of the Ravenclaw girls spoke so cruelly.
Nick tried to hold his resolve, but it crumbled when Luna looked at him with enormous, pleading eyes.
"Fine. Harry and I will go down, but the rest of you stay here. Luna, Ron, go wait for Professor Mao, tell him we have gone down as soon as you see him. Fred, George. Wait here at the entrance. If you hear us call for help, come down but otherwise stay up here."
Nick cut off the calls of defiance, "Harry and I are the only ones who can understand Andrus. It is better for you to be up here."
Without further delay, Nick grabbed Harry, and the pair vanished down the fireplace stairs, down to the snake's lair.