The Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning
Authors Note: Several things, The wizard term 'Muggle' is being avoided by the population because of the Muggleborn population which now has a say in power now and found it offensive. Going forward I'm attempting to separate each chapter by in-book months in the following chapters which mean longer chapters, for example, this chapter used to be three chapters.
To Xhine, I have never heard of Night In The Woods before you mentioned it so any similarity is purely coincidental.
Disclaimer: I don't at this time own any published work of Sega or JK Rowling, if I did I'd gut the current Sonic fandom and only allow literate people to contribute cutting the fandom back by 90% and improving the quality by the same percentage.
Hogsmeade Village, Former site of J. Pippin's Potions, December 31st 1991
Snowflakes spiraled down peacefully from the sky in the quiet village, a deep layer of snow making the village resemble a picturesque Christmas postcard of a rural village in the countryside "So what do you think Miles?" asked Maurice somewhat nervously standing in front of the red oak varnished door on the Hogsmeade high street as he absently fiddled with a strand of blue hair. The former apothecary had been completely remodeled on the outside and the inside, its storefront window had been stripped of its gaudy green paint and lettering. The interior had had most of its accessories sold off or removed by the previous owner and in its place, Maurice, with the help of goblin contacts had sourced a thick blue carpet for all the rooms minus the kitchen and bathroom which were tiled a plain white.
The walls themselves were a plain white in all rooms of the house pending a democratic vote between the two brothers on paint colours. Both bedrooms on the second floor had large four-poster beds with criminally soft mattresses as well as empty bookshelves lining the wall waiting to be filled with books, toys and other knickknacks.
The ground floor was an open plan living room attached to the kitchen and any bare wall was concealed by large as of yet empty oak bookcases. The living room area had some plush chairs and a small settee in front of a large fireplace.
To the right of the livingroom, there was a separate room that had been converted into a study and Floo room with its own fireplace.
At the back of the house between the living room and the kitchen island was a staircase leading upstairs and downstairs and to the left of that, there was a well furnished large bathroom.
The second floor of the house up the stairs consisted of a long hallway leading into three rooms, Miles bedroom was the first door immediately upon exiting the stairway, further along the landing was the door to another converted study with a large half-moon windowed balcony. Before the furthest door at the end of the corridor which held Maurice's bedroom, there was a ceiling hatch that could be pulled down to form a ladder leading to the attic. The attic was just an empty unused storage space waiting to be filled and had not been converted into anything yet.
The already spacious building even had a large basement at the very bottom of the stairs that quite obviously had been used to be a potions laboratory or wine cellar but now like the attic was waiting to be stocked and filled with other things. Considering its size Maurice had a sneaking suspicion that the basement extended slightly under the street.
The house had four fireplaces one in each bedroom, one in the living room and one in the ground floor study designated as the Floo room.
Maurice let Miles run ahead into the house with an exclamation and hung up his coat on the rack the indoor welcome mat designed to vanish dirt from a person's shoes as they stepped on it.
Maurice had thought that he'd feel a bit conflicted about doing this, he had a home of his own now that wasn't the Dursley's and enough noise to fill the emptiness with welcoming chatter on behalf of Miles. No more cold glares and reluctant acknowledgments, the house was pretty empty right now but that would change given time. "Welcome home little brother" spoke Maurice from Miles bedroom door. Maurice laughed at the ballistic yellow headed missile that was Miles collided at speed driving the breath out of Maurice with a happy yell of "Welcome Home Big Brother!" Miles laughed relieved at the fact Miles liked the place and teasingly noogied the kid causing a storm of giggles.
An hour later, having ordered some breakfast food from The Three Broomsticks for the both of them as Maurice hadn't gone food shopping yet the two brothers continued arranging various school books and items on the shelves. Miles was reading a random book that had caught his interest while Maurice now sat in the upstairs study comparing notes taken from a book in the library with the results his scanning charm was throwing up. The pendant bought from a London flea market several years ago for reasons Maurice no longer quite remembered was simple in nature a silvery triple headed guitar and made of pewter which was a relatively okay metal for holding enchantments though not the best. Maurice had after much research layered the pendant with a subtle compulsion to make people think that the wearer was of legal age as well as adding a mild suggestibility charm to make non-magical people not question any lack of paperwork pertaining to Miles as non-magical's were just nosy like that.
Maurice fully intended to enroll Miles in a mundane school sometime this year or next term as the magical primary schools had not filled him with hope at all, this opinion from Bunnie who had been present when Alastor Moody had grilled her prospective teacher on the material they should be teaching and stalked away on the warpath before enrolling her homeschooling which entailed a heady mix of memory potions such as Wit-Sharpening Potion before each lesson and Dragon Claw powder instead of salt at mealtimes. The new diet boosting Bunnies intellect for the entire time she had been studying and allowing her to breeze through the material and in some cases skip ahead.
The doorbell rang loudly jolting Maurice out of his thoughts "Miles! I think that's the group, get down here!" a muffled "K" issued from the second floor.
Opening the front door Maurice smiled as he spotted the group trying to be subtle, Susan was wearing a black robe and witches had pulled down to hide her face from any curious Hogsmeade goers, Bunnie was rubbing her skin where flesh met prosthetic and shifting on the spot in an effort to keep warm even under the cloak whereas Neville was just contentedly examining the falling snowflakes wrapped up warmly.
"Thanks for doing this guy's" spoke Maurice and waved them in.
"It's no trouble." Spoke Neville hanging up his jacket on the rack.
"Nice house" Spoke Susan distractedly wrestling with her bulky witches hat.
"So what ya looking fir first?" drawled Bunnie.
"Food, plates, cutlery then soaps towels and things... basically we're just going to shop until the house looks like a house. Have a look round tell me if we're missing anything."
Several hours of intense shopping and ruffled shopkeepers later, because Bunnie was the bargain shark, Maurice, Miles, Susan, Bunnie and Neville lay sprawled in various places in the living room thick curtains drawn and the fireplace roaring away merrily. A large oaken table veritable creaked loaded as it was with decimated plates of food "That was fun" yawned Miles as he swished a marshmallow in and out of the fire. "I'm amazed we got that cabinet up the stairs, even with magic" mumbled Neville around a crouton. "I don't think we missed anything?" spoke Susan uncertainly from her place on the sofa leaning against Maurice who was happily dosing away almost asleep. "We did tell the teachers where we were right?" Spoke Neville around a marshmallow.
Maurice nodded "Yep, Sent a note. Just Floo 'Hogwarts, Receiving Room' and you're there, I'm working on connecting the Floo in The Knothole to here so we don't have to bother the teachers, I'll tell you when it's done" What Maurice implied and what he meant were two very different things such as not bothering the teachers which actually equated to leaving the school whenever they wanted, not that Maurice ever took adult considerations into mind having grown up in a very offhand home with no knowledge of what a decent responsible adult was meant to behave like.
Finishing a marshmallow Neville looked thoughtful "So… what next?"
Maurice rolled his shoulders and explained his plan "Well Miles is going to school next opening term in South Kensington"
"Why so far?" asked Susan curiously as to why he was picking somewhere in London opposed to somewhere closer.
Maurice smirked "Not that far for me, I'll be taking him each morning, besides with Wit-Sharpening potions he can learn really fast and advance easily enough"
"Why aren't we using Wit-Sharpening potions? You know, for everything?" asked Neville idly in a moment of genius that his friends would marvel over in the coming years.
Everyone froze and turned to Susan who looked thoughtful as she recalled everything she'd read about the potion "There's nothing saying we can't?"
"The potion isn't addictive and is relatively easy to make, it's only got three ingredients and nine steps so even I remembered it." Maurice admitted sounding thoughtful.
"Ma godfather modified it ta hae six" admitted Bunnie "Mare ingredients but naw awfa ginger taste"
Reaching a decision Maurice clapped once to get everyone's attention "I'll put in an order tomorrow for the ingredients and some enchanted cauldrons, That way it can be all automated to brew itself in the basement when we're in school and we can load up daily"
"Me too?" asked Miles, subtly side eying Maurice even as he gingerly poked a roasted marshmallow.
"There's nothing that say's he can't" spoke Susan mentally going over everything she'd read about the potion and its prescribed usage "I am however going to ask that we take the weekends off to give our minds a rest."
"This terms going to be a breeze" Maurice singsonged lying back into the cushion with his eyes closed smiles and grins on more than one face.
University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
As the crate of complex heavy machinery was loaded into the back of the van Lee Jordan felt his misgivings fade away, David Boorman fifth year Hufflepuff, however, was as good as his word. "We've got it!"
"You weren't seen were you?" asked Lee evenly "As if" scoffed David clambering into the back of the van.
"Take a chill pill, Man. If Wolfy says he wasn't seen, then he wasn't seen" This comment from Felix Brunt a 5th year Slytherin who was looking rather green having demonstrated countless times that travel by vehicle vehemently disagreed with his constitution. The driver of the vehicle a fellow student in the same Hogwarts house as his best friend Felix, Mervyn Wynch merely grunted in agreement. The glamour on him maintaining the illusion of someone much older a necessity in this job, Lee wished fervently that he hadn't been forced to resort to this measure, stealing was bad enough but hiring these wannabe hooligans to do the job?
At the very least Lee thought as they drove away, let through campus security by a confounded guard, they hadn't left any trace of their actions so they were competent enough. A second after that though a large explosion ripped through one of the buildings of the university campus they'd just left, all eyes in the van immediately zeroed in on the twitchy Felix who stated in a giggly manner with eyes shining in mad delight "You promised Booms so I made Booms, so not apologizing"
"Only if we were discovered and only as a last resort you complete birdbrain!" Hissed Lee at the somewhat demented demolitionist.
David sighed wearily well used to Felix's antic's "Don't bother, Felix hasn't been right since he mistook one of Mervyn's concoctions for pumpkin juice, Part of the reason we're leaving after OWL's anyway"
"What the other reason?" asked Lee despite himself as a fire engine roared past the van at the intersection alarms screaming. David grinned as the emergency services responded to the explosion in record time emergency lights dazzling in the night "Hogwarts has gotten a bit too dull for us I'm afraid, there's a whole wide world out there for the taking so it's time for us to fly the coup"
The Burrow, Ottery St Catchpole, Devon, England
Finally back at home in England Ron grinned and spun in place showing off the deer hide jacket and boots in front of the mirror. Both were enchanted by the tanner to allow themselves to seamlessly enlarge as Ron aged by pulling the leftover pelt packaged in an extended pouch sewn into the jacket and shoes, Molly had badgered the tanner for that trick but he'd only grinned and said it was a trade secret.
Another surprise was to be had when Charlie had approached Ron with a large rectangular box before he'd returned home "The lads felt you deserved this for a magnificent first hunt and I agreed"
Opening the box revealed a beautiful gleaming recurve bow made of the antlers of the stag fashioned to resemble a wide arching W, carved and treated to have a faint golden sheen and a deer hide quiver and strap.
"Oh wow that's wicked cool" Breathed Ron, Charlie grinned and passed Ron a small book. "The lads at work also got you a book on how to care for the bow and make your own arrows. When you become better at magic there's even a spell in the back for conjuring temporary arrows" Charlie removed the quiver from the case and latched it onto Ron's jacket where a matching strap secured the quiver in place.
"You can move the quiver about for ease of access and strap the bow to it using this strap on the quiver. Also the bow is enchanted with anti-moisture charms so you can even swim with this and it'll be fine"
Surprisingly Ron was going to be allowed to take the bow to Hogwarts conditional on him showing the same prudence he showed his wand, Charlie had even sent a letter ahead to the headmistress who had sent a form for their mother to sign allowing Ron into the forest to hunt as it had been cleared of danger with the spider purge. However any carcasses had to be certified as clear of chemicals by Professor Kettleburn before they found their way onto the dinner plate and Ron could earn himself some pocket money for any potions ingredients he picked up.
In the aftermath of the Spider Rebellion in the Forbidden Forest it had been discovered that the centaur population had gone missing, the same thing had occurred with the unicorns and various other forest denizens. Never one to miss an opportunity the Hogwarts Board of Governors had ordered wards placed to stop re-entry by dangerous creatures, leaving the forest for the first time ever save for students. Brought back to the present Ron heard his mother speak from the doorway. "…and remember Ronald you can wear your new outfit as long as you wear school robes over it in class and at meals" Ron nodded along at his mother's lecture barely paying attention, He'd been so excited the night before that he'd packed up for Hogwarts early to his mother's pride. He finally had something that he could excel at and while Magical Ingredient Hunter Extraordinaire didn't sound like much it was something Ron deeply enjoyed especially after the first Hogwarts term he'd had which had included such experiences such as dispelling jinxes and curses on everything in his side of the Gryffindor dorms and being extra vigilant for whatever piece of nastiness the snakes in lions robes calling themselves Gryffindors thought up next. At least being in the forest meant that Ron could test his spellcasting in peace, even the more dubious hexes and jinxes he'd picked up and to be truthful he'd grown used to the solitude.
Hogwarts Front Lawn, One minute before Midnight, January 31st 1991
"I must admit that this was a marvelous idea" spoke Flitwick enthusiastically to Professor Lucretia as the fireworks exploded above signaling the New Year.
Lucretia sat primly at the repurposed house table that had been relocated to the outside lawn with some benches, the teachers and remaining students were seated or walking about as the fireworks went off noisily above. The table was laden with all types of food and some very weak cider and butterbeer.
"You should thank the students, I believe Weasley was the one to suggest this idea to my pyrotechnically inclined husband." Informed Lucretia from her seat sipping some hot cider.
"Happy new year" Toasted McGonagall to the teachers who similarly raised their glasses echoing a chorus of "Cheers!" apart from Ignatius who said "Kanpai!" just to be contrary, earning a dirty look from his wife.
At the lakefront, Maurice and his friends were making some toasts of their own each more outlandish than the first.
"To snowball fights and improperly built igloos!" "To chocolate frog cards!" "To passing through exams with much wit!" "To hypersonic post owls!" "To chilidogs!" all the students were breathless with laughter with even the stoic Blaise snickering.
Meanwhile somewhere in England
Under various repellent charms the cloaked stranger drew no attention from the local populace of the country village as he walked almost serenely through the howling blizzard unseen by all, soon the figure reached the village outskirts and arrived at a broken down hovel neatly hidden from view by high brambles, wicked tree trunks and wild unkempt hedges. Pushing aside the underbrush to get closer the figure stalked his way towards the hovel, not even moonlight was visible. On closer examination the house which was more of a shack was deserted and clearly had been in such a state for a great number of years, the gate itself was in pitiable repair covered in moss and lichen. The entire area gave off an aura of decay this was especially exemplified by the sight of the large snake skeleton crudely nailed to the front door. The stranger's eyes glowed red from under his cowl, the sign of a form of enhanced mage sight that enabled him to see any magic in the area. Finding none of note the figure pointed his wand at the door and abruptly wrenched it out off its hinges a silencing charm stopping any noise from ensuring. Eyes flaring crimson the figure strode into the house without fear or hesitation and after a brief look around the interior strode over to the table, levitating it out of the way to get at the floorboards underneath them. Wrenching up the floorboards wordlessly with a wand wave the figures gaze flickered to and fro tracking invisible flares of light only visible to him, placing a box lined with lead next to the his feet the figure drew an unusual item for a wizard to possess from an extended pouch, a mundane litter picker with neon yellow bands made of reinforced steel clearly appropriated from some non-magical garbage collector for just this purpose. Carefully the figure used the non-magical contraption to pick up the small ring box from the floor the flaring curse within not reacting to the wizard's efforts. Placing the ring box in the larger lead-lined box, the figure tapped the box closed abruptly cutting off the invisible flames. The wizard levitated the box out of the building careful for any other enchantments. Making it out to the front gate and walking a further distance from the shack the figure then maneuvered the box into the extended pouch at which point the shack behind him registered the intrusion and exploded inwards as if at the center of a black hole. Having witnessed the traps finally activate and go up in a such a spectacular manner the figure made some mental notes on the style as he waited for the implosion to abate which it did five minutes later. With a flick of the strangers wand the trees surrounding the hovel began to smoke, the figure disappeared noiselessly on the spot as the trees surrounding the hovel from around and above burst into flames.