Stats as of Last Chapter -
Name - Aubrey Hawthorne
Age - 15
Race - Human.
Titles - Magical Titan, Fatechanger, Favoured of Salazar, ...
Level 68
HP: 34,288 (85,018.35)
MP: 86,379 (300,490.94)
STM: 95,914 (137,876.89)
184 Str
236 Agi
238 Dex
250 Con (Max, Until 18 years of Age) 256
271 Int
272 Wis
265(288) Luc
45 Points to spend.
Perk Points to Spend - 5
AN: It's unbeta'd. Feast your eyes upon my horrible writing skills. Ready to make your eyes bleed!
We're 2/3 of the way done with year one on the edits, btw. We changed so many things that we broke 2 google-docs so far. Lots of minor tiny changes, and plenty of big-massive ones. You'll see when we finish then do our second revision, which should be a matter of another week or two, when I start reuploading there.
Also, me and Gekko, the Beta, have agreed starting a Pat re on is probably for the best. We'll do that when we start pushing the updates, so you can get them all at once instead of the rolling updates we plan to do, then get the updates live as we make them! We thought that was a fair thing to do, and it's what other people who do Pat re on stuff do.
Also, when I start writing my next thing, which is going to be original / modern fantasy (like this, which is why I'm writing this in the first place... to get experience.) I'll post it there, too.
Anywhooo see ya'll on the other side~
The day of their duel went by quickly, I was seemingly rushed to the fight. It wasn't really so - looking back, though, I can't remember much more, other than my fight.
Lucia is a tall woman with olive skin and a light dusting of dark makeup about her features. She has long dark hair, sharp facial features and a lithe figure, which looks incredibly flexible. Indeed - the stats I can observe of her say much the same.
Lucia De-Niro
Titles - Lady Grace,
Age - 41
Race - Human
Sex - Female
Level 73
Str - 89
Agi - 256
Dex - 315 (max)
Con - 241
Int - 309
Wis - 322
Luc - 316
…
So she has me beat in every stat except Strength and Constitution. The derivative stat, MP, is also in my favor.
In short - she's 100% better than me, though I'm able to last much longer in a fight, magically, and I'm physically able to last a little longer.
Too bad I'm going to have to blitz her to try to break her.
"Contestants, bow!" The referee and announcer calls, we acquiesce and then, we stand, straight, on our lines drawn for the starting position. "Ready?" He calls loudly, the audience's roaring is cut out, suddenly, as the barrier goes up.
I nod.
Lucia nods.
"Begin!" He calls, before jumping back behind the shields, and out of our way. My first spells are already hitting the floor as he's finishing the words.
Then, the world is mud which we both start to sink into. Lucia looks a bit confused, but goes to counterspell the mud, and as she's doing that, I begin chanting lightly under my breath as I chain out my combination of offensive spells.
My flawless control starts to show as I'm blasting her with precise curses, forcing her to block and dodge as she works to counter my transmutations and conjurations of water-creatures and animated water constructs with all the excess moisture from my now defeated mud transfiguration.
Her eyes go wide when the winds begin to rip through the stadium, and she pulls her second wand for the first time this tournament. "Fulgur!" She encants in a single word the their four lightning spell - good, but…
"Compulsos caedit!" I counter, and her eyes widen as I finish the first half of the tornado - the powerful wind-storm. It cuts her bolt of lightning to shreds as it flies.
"Aegis!" She calls, and a golden shield-bubble forms around her, eating the great, grinding storm. Aegis does cost less than "The Tornado of Blades" Which I'd summoned, but it was still draining.
Did she think she could win attrition? Best not to see if she has a counter ready.
Again, I call for the elements, this time, without the full chant, so it's much more draining - "Orbis terrarum, et contritum quasi cinis uri!" And then the world goes white as all of the shields in the stadium light up, and the firestorm is summoned. I hear the Aegis shatter, and the sound or roaring flames, before, after five seconds, I cut off all the mana to both spells, and sag to my knees.
The perfect circle of unburnt stage around me - exactly 2 meters across - a testament to my control. The fraying barries I can sense at the edges of the platform, rapidly repair themselves. I breathe in, then out.
In, then out.
She's gone.
I won.
Hopefully her recovery is swift. I doubt there are more than fifty people on this planet who can push me so hard in a structured duel. And I'll never get her with this tack again.
Hmm how.. Fun!
"..y Hawthorne!" A distorted voice I recognize to be the announcer calls, and I look up to see the barriers drop, and the rush of cool air tells me just how hot it'd been inside them. And how smokey it had been. "She's proven beyond a doubt she's skilled enough to be where she is, in the Final Eight!" The voice calls, and the crowd roars.
"Heh." I wheeze, flopping onto my bum, unable to stand as I feel the all too familiar form and magical signature of Flitwick coming behind me.
"You did well, Aubrey." He tells me, patting me before lifting me up and helping me hobble off. "We'll have to take you off to the healers for the chunk she took out of you, though." He comments, and I look down.
I'd not even realized I'd lost a bit of thigh. Oh well, another cool scar to tell my kids about, someday. It'll probably look like a tiger stripe, being it's a long thick cut, maybe 2 inches across at the widest and an inch or so deep.
"Didn't feel it." I wheeze, my throat incredibly dry and crackly.
Dehydration, Magical exhaustion…
"I doubt you would have. Probably happened during the firestorm - I didn't see it. Probably a parting gift, as it were." He tells me, I nod.
No way I can duel tomorrow, anyways.
"When they see me, can you help me to the Dojo? Even if I can't fight, I want to learn. Nothing here is serious enough to see me hospitalized." I say, feeling each word like a bit of sandpaper in my throat.
I've been through worse.
"Sure!" He chirps, then he pats my back and I feel a pulse of healing magic enter my system.
"Grandpa's favorite, after a long day of forging…" He murmurs, and I feel immensely better, walking stops hurting as much and some slight pains I was just coming to feel through the adrenaline high were fixed instantly. "Still won't be good for much running, fighting or casting, but you should be able to stand and hold things other than your wand, now." He whispers as we enter the healers area.
I'm quickly fixed up and kicked out, once they're sure I'm not going to fall over at a stiff breeze. When I inform the tournament organizer I'm not going to be able to get well enough to compete, they nod, hand me a certificate - marking me overall fifth - since I'd met where 5th seed would fall even if I lost the last duel. They added a charm to fill it out, and I felt the quest complete, and my level rise, twice.
I quickly take a look at it.
A New Dawn
Objective -
Win a Duel in the Adult Phase of the Dueling Cup. (Complete)
Bonus Objective -
Win Two Duels (Complete)
Win Three Duels (Complete)
Win Four Duels (Complete)
Win Five Duels (Fail)
Win Six Duels (Fail)
Win The Tournament (Fail)
Rewards -
+1 level in Dueling
+25,000 XP
+15 levels in Dueling
500,000xp
Title - Prodigal Monster (i)
+1 Political Visibility.
I see I'm about to level a third time, even.
"If you want to meditate with your leg like that, you're going to need to sit like this-" Junichi explains, seating himself as he does. He sits in a way that the laceration on my leg - which he can't even see through the bandage, tights and skirt I'm wearing - is face up to the air, with the other leg under acting as support. "When you sit like this, focus on bridging energy from the uninjured limb up, like rising winds, to the injured limb, then circulate towards your heart. Continue focusing on this, and circulating your energy like this, while you eat. You've not forgotten how to eat, have you?" He asks, as I try to mime his position on the floor.
"I admit, I may need some remedial lessons. I try to eat properly at every meal, but I feel I'm not eating with correct form." I inform him truthfully. He nods, then snaps up and walks over. Quickly he's moved my legs to an astoundingly more comfortable position, and then he positions my shoulders to be more comfortable, too.
"Good. I will bring the table and food." He tells me, then leaves.
I blink, then shake my head in mirth. Not one question about how I got the injury, or judgement on anything, instead, lessons on self improvement. I relax in what has to be the most comfortable position for sitting I've ever felt, at least on hardwood floors like the dojo, and then I pause.
'We're eating in the dojo?' The thought strikes me as odd. Extremely unorthodox - basically not ever done. Like - some people would probably be very angry about him having us eat in the dojo. A lot of people.
Why do it this way, then?
He enters with a table as I'm mulling it over.
"Why the long face?" He grunts, placing it all too gently over my legs.
"We're eating in the dojo, why?" I ask, simply. He chuckles.
"The dojo is where you go to sharpen the mind, body and spirit. Anyone who says that you are not doing those things, trying so hard as you are, does not know what true effort looks like. This is a lesson, just as any other I teach here. Perhaps unorthodox, but it does indeed help train the mind and body. Perhaps even the spirit, if done well." He informs me casually, the most casually I've seen from him, then he smiles. "But I don't know if you've felt it, yet? What you're subconsciously manipulating?" He asks, and I blink as he turns and walks off.
I squint into the air. I know about the energy of the mind and body and spirit, I'm not dumb. I'm not exactly manipulating any of them at this moment.
Then what is he talking about? Surely not nonsense?
I focus inwards, delving into my thoughts, but not entering a true occlumency trance. Just deep enough to be aware of myself, and the energy and world around me…
I breathe in, and focus as I keep trying to circulate my energy like he asked.
Then, after a moment, I see it.
My physical energy is pooling, then mixing with my spiritual energy. That's then following though not mixing with the magical, until it finds the cut, where some of it bleeds off. Right now, I only have a sliver of the new energy, due to it being accidental, but if I do it intentionally… just a little bit more…
Congratulations!
You've Unlocked the Hidden System - Ki (Stamina + Health)
Unlocking this Locks the other Dual-Combination's you could get.
Passive -
+10% to Health and Stamina
+25% to Passive Regeneration (all types)
Shows Ki, SP, and SQ on Observe.
Active -
Reinforcement -
You can use Ki to help hold your body together. This takes (1) point of damage off of all sources.
Damage reduced increases with practice.
Huh. It didn't say anything about locking Triple or Quadra-combinations. I wonder if I should… I don't know.. Try those? There seems to be a big bonus to unlocking them.
I'll have to ask if there is any risk, there. Clearly Master Junichi had known about this.
I open my eyes to see the table set, and the master grinning at me, very slightly.
"I see you figured it out. Say, how do you feel?" He asks, as I focus on continuing the cycle, generating more Ki as the regeneration of my health and stamina allows.
My Ki-pool appears to be the mean of the two, but completely empty, aside from the little bit I had.
"A bit better, perhaps tougher? Than before. Is there any risk to doing other energy type combinations? I'm aware of four types of energy which existed before I did this - Spiritual, Mental, Magical and a power source which I have as the blessing of one of the Gods." I tell him simply. He blinks at me, then chuckles deeply.
"There is no risk, no. I found when I combined my magic with my Ki, however, that the Ki devoured the magic, and I was left a Squib, and none of my children or Grandchildren have shown any signs of magic." He tells me, truthfully. I blink, and Observe him.
His Ki-Pool is nearly four-times as large as his HP and Stamina combined - both of which are far larger than mine.
I think his Ki used - and is using - his mana as fuel. He still has an "MP" stat, and it's sitting at One-hundred points exactly.
"I've heard of Divine Champions in days of yore who could use Ki, Magic and divine power all at once. Perhaps if you combined magic and your divine gift, then those with your Ki, this would allow you to reach their heights? I know not. All I know is that Magic alone cannot hope to stand up to - or before - Ki. It's an order of magnitude greater than Magic could ever hope to be." He murmurs, and I nod.
Not something I'm going to try to do unless I can find and get confirmation from one-such champion. I don't want to risk my Mana on a whim.
I also doubt, somehow, I'll use this Ki almost at all. It seems useful, but not like something I'll have time to train. Maybe in a few decades, if I'm tired of magical study… which will never happen… yea…
I'm probably never going to use Ki for almost anything other than the occasional bout of improved defenses. I've read some fictional - I thought - things about Ki. It sounds like it takes a lot of time, energy and personal investment to master fully, like magic.
I'm not going to do it all over again, another however many years, to gain the knowledge and basis for me to go through the training for perfect control. It'll probably take an exponentially larger amount of time, given that I already have and must maintain / learn stuff for magic already.
I just don't have time. And while that sucks, It's time I started to just say 'no' to new abilities, even cool ones like this.
"Hm, I suppose you're not all that interested in mastering esoteric energies. That's fine. Magic is a fine thing to focus on, for now." He murmurs, before he gestures for me to begin eating.
It takes me only three minutes, this time, before I can start eating. By the time I'm leaving, I have a 2nd degree black-belt in hand, and a letter of recognition from Master Junichi Katsuda.
I may never return, but he makes it clear I'll always be welcome at his school.
"You've got everything?" Alessa asks me for what must be the 5th time.
"Yes, I do. I used a summoning charm on everything which belongs to me, in every part of the house I regularly visited. If I'm missing something, it's either warded or hidden magically, so it's been stolen, not lost." I reply, more firmly and verbosely telling her what I had been for the last 2 minutes.
"If you're sure! I just don't want you to have forgotten a favorite quill, or important notebook or anything. I know you're pretty organized, but I'd be mortified if I left my journal somewhere…" she mumbles.
I smile at her cute mumbling figure and ruffle her hair. "Well, that'd be my fault, wouldn't it?" I ask rhetorically. Then I pull back and hobble on my still weak leg a bit forward, to the door. "But we're due to get going any minute, and I don't want to be late for our trip off to England. Do you?" I ask teasingly, knowing she likes Quidditch a bit more than I ever could.
I shortly find myself being dragged by Alessa through the halls. "Aught to win. Ireland's seeker isn't super great, and most of their wins have been by goals, instead of catching the Snitch. I doubt they can do that against Bulgaria." She rambles, and I nod along.
"But what if Ireland can do it?" I ask the question - because I think they can.
Maybe that's just my bias, though. I think Ireland's players are a bit cuter than Bulgaria's, in their uniforms. I also don't like that the Bulgarian mascot is a sentient species. Even if they pay them well, that'd be like making a team 'The Weston Witches' and then the players having a bunch of scantily clad witches dance as their mascots in games
It wouldn't stand, obviously.
Ireland uses the fictive version of leprechauns, like you'd find on a box of cereal.
Not literal leprechauns, the little cute critters which are fully sentient, though not classified as beings by their own request.
Fey beings are quite odd, from a human's perspective, I'll say.
"Then there's hardly a reason to watch after a 150 point lead by Ireland." Lord De Niro cuts in, as we're walking up. "I suspect we'll know if it'll be a quality match within the first few hours. Hopefully it'll be over in less than a week, though. It could be rather embarrassing if they wind up a few hundred points ahead, only to lose because they fell asleep flying, like happened back in the thirty-first cup." He chuckles as he holds out a long length of chain which he, his wife, Angeline and his Son, Frederick, already have a hold of.
"I hope so too - so I can see the end of the match, and so if there is an over 150-point-gap, I can find my friends and catch up. I'm sure I'll love the game for a few hours, but I'm mostly going for the company." I chime happily, while Alessa looks a bit put-out that her father appears to be siding with me.
"And I'll be sure to send a Patronus should anything change, so you can come back and watch again." He tells me, cheerily. I nod, excited, and then feel a pull in my navel.
I lightly hop a couple of times as we start to have slight mid-port turbulence. Passing through international ward boundaries, and then one final short hop as we hit what I can tell is end of the line.
Frederick does not land gracefully, and finds himself tangled with another child or two from another nearby landing party, who are disentangling themselves while muttering in what must be Albanian. They quickly separate and scurry off to their appointed campsite, then we're pointed at ours.
Lot 155C - which means we're in the outer edge of the Eastern tents, which is the nicer area. The outer ring.
You're further from the action, but the further out you go, the more spread out and quiet it gets, which is nice. A lot of the more normal people seem to be on the edge, too. Starting fires with matches as opposed to trying to do it with sticks, or a magnifying glass, as one wizard had been trying to do.
The innermost rings were basically flaunting magic. I recognized two of the families in the 'innermost rings' as the nigh inbred purebloods of Britain and another family like them from Norway. They just used their wands without a care, even though they were reprimanded for it, I'm sure.
They have money and a name, so they're above minor inconveniences of the law, like fines.
So we set our tent up in the outskirts on our nice, large, lot. It was up within 10 minutes, and we had a fire within 15, and everything pulled out and set up within the tent within 30. Seeing as we had a good few days until the World Cup started, we decided to go shopping, and see if we could find anyone we might know.
That is to say, Alessa, Angeline and I had decided to go, while Donatello and Frederick decided to stay behind and tend to the campsite, which we all knew meant 'evade holding the bags by looking busy'.
So we went, giggling up a storm, ready for a good time.
It took us an hour to find the stalls selling anything other than junk, like omnioculars for 3x the price in Diagon, or tacky 'official merchandise' for the teams, like jerseys and such. For, again, massive markup.
What we found was a mini-bazaar of sorts, where people from all over the world were pedaling things from their home countries for, what was surely more than they cost, but pretty reasonable prices if you were to get them locally, or shipped.
There was a Chinese lady selling fresh made buns, a Japanese lady with Candies, and an old Korean man selling Barbeque. From Africa there were beaded necklaces, various types of foci for sale, made to be able to work for anyone in a pinch, it seemed, and of course, foodstuff.
From the Americas there was anything from ancient magic texts for those curious in the ways the old American societies did magic, all the way to enchanted goods, to food.
Really, every culture brought some food, some goods, and something unique. Be it the Shinto Charms, the Hindi jewelry, or even the Mayan runestones. A few-hundred or so small tents - at least by wizarding expansion terms - had opened their proverbial doors for business. I've no doubt they have another tent for residence, and probably to keep their stock, if they sell out of something.
The amount of Bulgarian and Irish goods for sale outnumber the rest, two-to-one. To be expected, considering who-all is playing.
None of the stuff looks super interesting to observe, so I grab a few Nick-Knacks which look cute for my bag, to customize it for school. I get a few charms from a priestess, who claims to be a sister to a player on the Japanese team, here to watch with her family. I buy an African carving, made to be tied to a necklace. Lastly, I buy a large green-stone, carved to look like a leaf, which grants whatever it's attached to water immunity and fire immunity. Good for bookbags, or prized plants.
Then, me and the rest of the girls look around to decide on dinner, before Angeline, smiling fondly at an American Pizza spot, walks over, and orders a large.
"The boys will like this. We can get something else for you, if you'd both like?" She asks kindly, paying the man for a large meat-lover, which he pulls out of the oven, apparently having a small pile of them pre-made and sitting in an oven just to keep them hot. So he claims as I look about the options.
"Can we look around? I don't know what's on offer." I ask, she nods, and casts a stasis on the pizza. I split off to go looking for a meal for myself shortly, seeing there's more food tents than anything else - with everything from Sushi all the way to pasta dishes and even one person who makes specialty soups to order.
As I'm pondering a Chinese spot, which has some really nice soups I'd heard about from various students of Chinese heritage, I can't help but overhear a boisterous voice hollering about Quaffles.
We're all supposed to be acting like muggles, so I instinctively go to look at him with an incredulous look. Hoping my skin-tight jeans, black graphic-tee will get his attention and force him to behave.
After all, my graphic tee has gotten a number of looks from the oddly dressed wizards, who all look like I'm breaking some law.
The black-graphic depicts a Dragon breathing fire on a warrior holding a shield, a tongue-in-cheek way of using non-magical fashion to let people know I'm a Wizard, but also to look more muggle than anyone else. Also, a memorable scene from the book Three Hearts and Three Lions, one of my favorite bits of Non-Magical literature, and is actually pretty iconic for fantasy lovers all over, even if they don't know the book. Similar scenes are used in tons of stories I've read.
I have to wonder if shoveling water into a dragon's maw would cause it to basically explode, like had happened in the book? The idea of using the core temperature of the dragon being super high was fair, and would cause the water to expand when it was deep enough as it boiled, and if there was enough, it could surely cause damage…
Thoughts for another time.
"And the Snitch! I tell you, no way the Bulgarians lose, Seldvick!" The man booms, and I recognize both the man talking, and the man he's talking to.
This is Ludo Bagman, head of Games and Sports. The man he's talking to is Antonin Seldvick, a well known master in the gambling rings, who manages and runs the betting circuits for people. Seldvick, a well dressed Russian man, seemingly about 40 or so, is the opposite of the vibrantly dressed Ludo, in his overtight outdated Wimbourne Wasps uniform, which is stretched dangerously thin over his stomach.
Bagman shouldn't be betting, though. He's the commentator of the game. If he's betting, there could be conflict of interest and that would be really, really bad. Like, he could get fired, and fined, and they'd have to redo the whole final, levels of bad.
"Yea, I know your logic, but what about the money? Do you want to put money on it?" Seldvick ripostes, and I go back to pretending to not notice them. No one else appears to have heard Seldvick's response. Nor is anyone really paying attention from what I've seen.
I guess this is kinda normal?
"Sure." Bagman whispers, passing a bag to Seldvick, which I only catch from the corner of my eye as I peruse a stall because the bag is by no means a small bag. It probably holds a small fortune.
"For Bulgaria?" He asks. Bagman nods, and drops the bag to Seldvick's hands, and it quickly disappears, leaving me to think he either has a spell to move objects, a House Elf for this exact purpose, or he mad it invisible.
Bagman merely pulled it from an expanded pocket.
"Yep!" Bagman cheers more loudly. "And that's why I think Bulgaria will win! Hopefully the information will help you with setting the polls!" He cheers, pretending to have not just bet his whole life's savings on Ireland failing somehow, as he bounces away.
I suppose I could report this, and get big points with the Ministry, except the Bagman-lovers. Or I could let it play out…
Letting it play out unless Bulgaria wins sounds like a happy middle. At best, Bulgaria lost anyways, no need to report. At worst, they lose. I send an anonymous report with my memory and a written testimony that I didn't lie, signed with an 'x' - which is magically binding for magical contracts - and they must believe me.
Easy enough.
I turn to cross the way, and spot what I didn't even know I'd been looking for. It's a smaller tent, and a small sign rests outside with a short menu. A number of my favorite dishes from my past life are on the list, things I'd not heard of yet, in this life.
Dragon Steak, anyone?
I recognize the language as Finnish, though I personally am not super skilled with the language, I know enough to recognize that, and a few shared characters with the other languages of the far north. Which are few, considering how odd Finnish is as a language…
I walk up, and order a steak, along with the grilled apricots and a few other things on the pricier side. I provide them with the 5 galleons for the meal then step to the side to wait for my meal.
Spendy? Oh yes! Ever so worth it, though…
It was two days later - the day before the cup was to begin - that a large tent was pitched near our own, and erected on it was an emblem I recognized, followed by a banner, pronouncing what it was to the world.
The Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The large - seemingly muggle, though - tent set up, I see a few people come out who had never gone it. Arrived by Floo? They go and set up four more tents of the same size and design, but each bearing a particular animal upon them.
One of each of their four houses.
As the day ticks on, I watch as more people come and go, then, almost like a gong being sounded, what are clearly students begin to filter among the tents. I smile anticipatorily, and begin to hit everyone there with an Observe, to see if I spot anything interesting.
There is only one pattern among all of them. The students are all Orphans who stay at the school year-round, or friends with one of those students. The adults are the heads of their house, or the head of a department. The most powerful person? Undoubtedly the Headmaster, who appears to be level 97. He's a man getting on in his years, dressed nicely all the same. He has a firm upright posture, though he has a sort of soft air about him. Like if you know him, he's awfully nice, but tries to come off as imposing. His greying hair is short and slicked back. He has small brown eyes, and a finely trimmed goatee. Overall, he's a very refined gentleman.
Furnell Pope
Titles - Lord of Beasts, Master of Magic, Headmaster of Ilvermorny...
Age - 82
Race - Human
Sex - Male
Level 97
Str - 189
Agi - 345 (Max)
Dex - 365
Con - 412
Int - 812
Wis - 855
Luc - 433
…
This is the level of those at the top of your average Wizarding community. The Headmasters, Heads of Law enforcement, Head Unspeakables, and then the heads of the hardest jobs.
Head of Healers, Curse-Master, Master of the Warding Department… anyone who had such a title probably would have a level in the 90's. I still have yet to see anyone with a level above 100, and something tells me it'll probably be Dumbledore who has that level? Or other really old, or noted people in positions of power?
Like Voldemort, or Grindelwald, or Flamel?
The real monsters who everyone knows are beyond every other Witch and Wizard. Those are the ones who stand above level 100.
His officer, and Deputy Headmaster was, Agilbert Fontaine, a wide and powerful man, easily over six-foot. His long black hair and central european facial structure framed his dark blue eyes nicely. His title decreed him - a mere 32 year old man - to be level 90. Head of the DADA position, and leader of the Horned Serpent house. He looked poised to overtake the headmaster in power anytime.
I couldn't resist going to have a chat with them, after I finished reading each of their stat-pages. If nothing else, I may have a good discussion on magical theory with them, at worst, I don't get much of anything. Talking to strangers has proven pretty nice, these last few days. The Mahotokoro teacher of magical creatures had chatted with me for no less than 30 minutes on their transportation to and from school. Even gave me a feather from one of the great birds they used to fly the youngest.
Truly a wonderful experience, though not too deep, considering the subject being one I'd already researched a bit, and they'd not been comfortable discussing more than the surface level of it all.
As I approached I came to realize that like myself, both of the men, the Headmaster and his Deputy, were both Awakened, Masters of Dueling and Martial arts.
And they knew I was someone of roughly their equal in these ways, judging by the way the Deputy came to meet me as I approached, looking intrigued.
"Greetings, Miss Hawthorne." His deep, rich voice booms, sending shivers down my spine. Oh boy, another crush on a hot teacher. "Your reputation precedes you. What do we owe the pleasure of one so skilled as you, visiting our summer field trip?" He asks in that booming voice which continues sending those pleasant shivers down my spine.
"You have me at a disadvantage, knowing who I am. I can't return the favor, sadly. I'd come over hoping to have a talk about some magical theory. I've found chatting with people is a good way to pass the time - and I've been here since I fell out of the Adult bracket in the dueling cup. Speaking of, why don't you compete? I think you could do quite well for yourself…" I trail, giving him a nod that I recognize he's a master of dueling.
The nod is short, though, to indicate I know I'm more skilled. He feels like he's hovering around level 200 or so in Dueling.
"I can beat most of them with brute force, but eventually the finesses is too much." He replies with a shrug, before turning and beckoning for me to follow. "But my name is Agilbert. Most call me Al." He continues as I follow him to the original, now central, tent. We enter noiselessly and I'm in a small hall. He takes a sharp right and we go up a small flight of stairs, then come out in an office, where the headmaster is waiting for us.
"I suppose that would be annoying. You don't have the time to practice much, then?" I ask as we come level after the stairs, and he's opening the door.
"No. Teaching has brought me far, but there's only so much time it affords me to sharpen my practical skills. Being deputy head and the one who runs a house doesn't help with that too much." He grunts, taking a seat on the side of the desk. I plop myself down across from the headmaster, so we almost make a triangle.
"Yes, well, welcome to our grounds, Miss Hawthorne. I see you're getting along with my staff, and I heard you were looking to chat about magical theory. I suppose I'm curious what information you're looking for, considering the fact you seem to be quite knowledgeable already, considering the magic you've shown off in your duels." The Headmaster ungracefully swats our conversation aside to get to the point.
How odd. Is this the good-cop, bad-cop routine? There's a first time for everything, I guess.
"Well, I suppose there's no such thing as knowing too much about magic. Though I don't like using all that I know unless it's for sport or self defense… The goal is if I know everything, then I can defend myself and others from anything. It'll also help me, should I have a wide base, when I choose to go out and curse-break for a living." I tell him honestly.
"Curse-Breaking, huh? Well, I suppose it's as good of a job as any, and a very good reason to amass magical knowledge and power. Your power for your age, though, is unsettling. You must have noticed you already have more total mana than myself or my deputy?" He asks calmly. I nod. He closes his eyes and continues, not opening them. "The concern we in America have long held, since Grindelwald in fact, is that another European mage will show up, someone equal to or greater than he who came before. We see you, and what should we think? You're no threat? Hmm.. no. We couldn't do that. You know, I can tell you do." He completes the thought, and opens his eyes, which are now cracked with orangish veins of power, looking almost molten.
A clear sign of Ritual-magic being done upon him.
"That's fair." I chuckle. "But I'm not the one you need to worry about. I'm the weaker of the two prodigies in England. America has their own Prodigy on my level - or they could be if they tried - and I'm sure there are others. But I'm not the one who's working towards war-magic. I'm just someone looking to survive the fight brewing in Britain. Our Dark Lord is not dead." I tell him, meeting his eyes calmly the whole time. I feel the Deputy tense when I say that.
"How could you know that? His body -" the Deputy cuts in, and I crush it by continuing.
"I saw him in my second year, possessing a teacher. His 'body' by the way, was nothing more than robes and ash. Not a wand, not a body. He escaped, and is now a spirit looking for a way back. Dumbledore is a frail old man, training his replacement. I'm not a weapon." I say my first blatant lie. I have a title - Hidden Dragon - which declares me basically the final resort and hidden weapon of Dumbledore. "I'm a girl who knows war is coming, and I'm arming myself and those around me to stand against the darkness. You can help me, or get out of my way." I finish my statement harshly, injecting some mana into my eyes subconsciously, which makes them glow with power.
I realize a moment after it happens, but don't turn it off. I feel the professors fighting within themselves on what to do.
I could be wholesale lying - and I somewhat am lying, actually. Just not about the stuff that should matter.
"When?" The Headmaster asks in a deep voice.
"Soon. Within the next three years, I'm guessing. I'm hoping for three, really. If he shows up tomorrow, well, I'll just have to be ready, won't I?" I spit. I hate people asking questions I can't know the answer to.
"Good. At least you don't know all the answers." He grunts, then I feel a force press down on me heavily - his mana, I realize. I quickly push mine out to counteract his own, and I see him nod in agreeableness.
"Perfect control." The Deputy grunts. I nod.
"I worked for four years to master it, you know? Not easy. About two hours per-day would I work on control." I mutter ruefully, then I press down, cracking the floor under my feet. The floor quickly mends with a self-repairing enchantment, but it groans heavily under my magical pressure. "Still, I practiced power, too. I know how to make every drop count." I grin, the suck all my mana back into my skin, and feel the mana in the air dissipate.
"Good, then. I won't teach you anything, other than this: Your control may be perfect, your manipulation of the energy. But your control over its shape is poor. Work on Shape Manipulation and power, next. If you master those three things, all of magic will be open to you." The Headmaster grunts, before pointing to the door. "Now get out of my office." He mutters, closing his eyes.
I do so, walking at a sedate pace.
"She's not the best?" I hear the Deputy mutter in disbelief. I grin.
Fear is a powerful tool. I may be the most powerful for now, but I know I won't be, later. It's not my style, after all.
I'd heard of shaping mana before, but I suppose I should work on it, along with power. They'd waited long enough. Then, I'll go raid the Room of Masters.
With my recent growth, and the control I have, I don't think this will take too much time, since control and shaping are undoubtedly linked, and power is limited by control. You can't ever hope to perfectly control your maximum possible power. At best a master of both will get half-and-half. Still, better than nothing, or the suboptimal, much worse variants non-masters of both deal with.
I think it won't come as a surprise to say that my next day, and up to the evening of the match, was pretty boring. I didn't really enjoy the match, either. It was impressive to see people moving at such speeds with such grace, but a quick observe of just one of them told me they were all ritually enhanced.
Like most top-end sportsmen and women tend to be. Still, in my mind, it was a bad practice to not maximize yourself before ritually enhancing. These people clearly stopped after a point, then boosted with rituals. Probably in / around 200, because that's pretty hard to get beyond, frankly. Probably feels like you're not making progress to most people.
Anyways, aside from that? All boring. Krum being level 59 was impressive for one his age, and he hit level 62 by the end of the match, where he caught the Snitch. Probably getting a massive amount of XP for going so far in a major tournament.
Comparing him to the previously highest leveled person of his age I knew - Fluer - I found them extremely close. Fluer is level 60, as of my last seeing her. She is also a very high level competitor for a popular, and large, sport.
The similarities are uncanny, almost. Krum, however, is more impressive in that he is in the worlds finals, and she has yet to hit top 32 in a worlds stage. This could be blamed on her hitting the 1st seed in the worlds format this year, and the year before losing to rank 10 early, but still. Krum had a more potent resume. His level surpassing hers only confirmed this.
The only comparably high-level Hogwarts student who is NOT a prodigy, is probably Cedric, but he's a year - almost 2 years - younger than these two, and he was level 49 at the start of summer. I imagine he'll get summer tutelage again and show up around level 50-53, but still, compared to the two above him, he's clearly just a year behind in his maturation.
A great wizard in the making, but just chronologically behind these two.
A bit sad.
Well, no point in dwelling on it. Aside from comparing the best students I know of from each school, there's not much I learned from the match.
Bulgaria lost, if you missed that bit.
So the De-Niro's and I fell asleep at around 8pm, hoping to get up early - 4am or so - to get an early portkey out. Them, to Italy, and myself, to my home. Which probably means Diagon and then the floo.
We awoke at 2am, to the sound of screaming.
I jump out of my bed, wandlessly calling my wand and charming my clothes onto myself. For once, I'm glad I'd taken to sleeping naked while in Italy, as I hop into my dueling clothes, or, perhaps I should say my 'going all out' clothes for when me and Flitwick get really serious. Not my official dueling robes, which are a bit more cumbersome.
The clothes? It's a pair of black tights, a skintight black top and a leather duster over top. I also pull on black leather gloves, which Flitwick enchanted to help cancel disarming charms and otherwise help me grip my wand. I kick on my shoes as the last step, some 30 seconds after waking up and am out the door of my room.
Lord De-Niro looks really, quite angry, Alessa is terrified and Lady De-Niro looks… excited?
"Death Eaters - or wannabes." Lord De-Niro says. "If you want to go fight with me and the lady, feel free. Alessa, you stay here." He rumbles as he pulls on a black set of long gloves, Lady De-Niro already having hers on. "If you're coming with us, wear a half-mask to cover your lower face." He instructs, tossing me a bit of cloth. "I enchant these to obscure your face and make it hard to identify you, or anything about you. Don't ask why." he grumbles, and we both know I know why.
I pull it on shortly, get a nod, and we're out.
We come out almost immediately to the left of the pack of ne'er do wells. I begin chanting a long chat for a tier 8 wind spell - Red Scythe, and open with am explosion hex at the ground behind them, and with my second wand, a stabilizing spell at the muggles being tossed around in the air like candy.
The Lord and Lady at my side silently send their own explosives, and then, the Lord, hearing my chant, begins his own.
Fire.
The Lady, picking up on this begins chanting a third - and I recognize this as the Earth Tier 6 - Siege Walls.
We're setting up a shooting gallery, then?
Just as they're turning to see us, a massive green… thing, rips out of the forest and blooms in the sky.
The Dark Mark. I'd recognize it anywhere.
I wonder who died.
The earthen walls go up, and I announce the last of my spell, and a long, silent ripple tears from my wand, which I slash wide, down the aisle, before it hits a thin wall of fire, which ignites it.
I hear a series of pops, and know they ran. Then I hear the fizzling of the spell reaching maximum range and going out with a light screech of extremely high-speed wind. The Earthen walls crumble, and we turn back into our tent.
Not a soul had seen us, but the Death Eaters. What a shame I'd only been able to properly Identify two of them with an Observe.
I hope Lord Malfoy and Lord Nott have good healers who don't ask questions. They had a good few holes in them from the explosions kicking stones into their backs, not to mention the other issues, like the concussion and broken arm on Lord Malfoy.
But, I suppose they will have those things, with the money they have. Maybe next time - and I don't doubt there will be one - I'll remove the arm instead of breaking it?