AN:
Thank you to everyone reviewing, I enjoy reading them good and bad. I believe it is good practice to address some of them so I shall try for a few of them each chapter. I will not post the entire review just the reviewer and which chapter and my notes.
Xenozip chapter 6 . Dec 7
Luna is for sure one of my favorites as well. She is also incredibly hard to write. If she seems OOC it's because I suck at writing her.
KrisB-71854 chapter 6 . Nov 23
Not sure about monkey king path as I don't know the lore enough. I know there are a bunch of movies on Netflix about it that I should probably watch.
The way I infer the Xena verse gods is to be mostly self-actualizing. They have quite a wide power set and their 'power level' comes from a few different sources, self-actualization (how they view themselves), followers (number and how the followers view the god), age ( usually the older the stronger), Title/domain they have power or represent (this can be right from birth, earned or bestowed upon them and often ties in with followers).
I picked them because of the wide power set that does allow you to get stronger. Darrow is between 1-2 tonner because that's how we views himself since that's how he remembers the gods from the show to be Ares, Zeus, Hercules etc.
As his knowledge expands so will his abilities.
ARTY will not be a snarky AI. ARTY is a transport system first and foremost. There are various capabilities that Darrow has not explored and not unlocked which could come into play later.
Is there a movie for History's Strongest Disciple and Ranma? I swear I might have seen something on Prime or Netflix. Will try to check it out. I know there is a FullMetal Alchemist movie on Netlfix that's pretty close to the Anime and I am planning for Darrow to make an appearance there briefly..eventually.
Darrow at the moment is still limited to just a little over 1000T for max weight he can transport. Not great for moving around spaceships.
Thank you for the Ideas and detailed review, please don't be surprised if I do end up using them. As well please remember this is still a power wank type fiction so don't be too hard on Darrow ;).
Zyvrexx chapter 6 . Nov 1
Good point. Will have to find a way to work that in! Animagus I don't find it useful since the Xenaverse gods can turn into pretty much anything.
Hades chapter 2 . Nov 1
Yup Already had plans for Darrow to get the Greek and Norse golden apples. I didn't remember the Sumerian temple ambrosia but might as well get it cause why let good ambrosia go to waste.
revanvador chapter 1 . Nov 1
I am very glad you are enjoying the story.
Thank you all for you input it is appreciated and please don't be surprised if I 'steal' some of your suggestions.
Story inspired heavily by 'Cruel To be Kind', '12 Steps To Omnipotence', 'Rise of an Empire' and a million and one other fanfics. If you see stuff and think that it's similar to another fanfic. it's probably because we read the same story and I liked that plot line or idea.
BEWARE this is a 'Gary Stu, wish fulfillment, power fantasy type story.
Thank you for reading!
Enjoy
Chapter 7
Year 3, Day 310: Harry Potter Universe, July 1992
Nick was staring at the black framed wall mounted clock anxiously watching the tongue tick tock away one second at a time. The clock, much like most of the design and decor of his 'eccentric' employer's house, was modern, minimalistic and while trying to be distinctly 'continental' as his employer mentioned in passing it screamed American belonging more into a muggle interior design catalogue speculating on future trends and certainly not into a British wizard's home.
Overall Nick had to admit it was quite nice if only a bit cold, feeling more like an office than someone's personal home. Then again with Darrow being away at school most of the year and Michael perpetually never around, it might as well be an office.
The clock was also mechanical. It had to be as it was situated in the welcoming foyer above the fireplace connecting the home to the floo network. Electronics and magic simply did not mix well. The more potent the magic in the area the worse it was for anything electronic and the floo was very potent magic. Many wizards, pureblood and muggleborn alike had tried to solve the mystery and none seem to have succeeded so far.
There had been advances of course, theories, charms, rituals, extra shielding, runes yet none seem to work just the right way. Every time electronics were put into a magically saturated environment they eventually failed. The more magic surrounding them the worse it was and the quicker they would crap out. Shopping places like Diagon Alley, Hogwarts or inside the Ministry were pretty much a no go zone for anything electric.
There were of course conspiracy theories that the Unspeakables had found a way to make it work and were keeping it secret by ministry decree, to increase separation between the two worlds. In his opinion, Nick, thought that while it might be true a more simple explanation was much more reasonable. They never bothered to search for a solution or if they did find one it might have been so complicated that they thought it wasn't worth pursuing further.
He'd met folks, usually merchants who claimed they solved the problem with extra shielding or complicated run patterns swearing on their mothers that the devices worked as intended in magical environments for long periods of time. He'd never tried them, they always seemed to cost an arm and a leg, rune work was after all expensive work. Besides those who really wanted to, mostly muggleborns and half-bloods, already had a solution to using electronics in their home.
If they could afford to, they would section a part of their house to use electronics and a part to use magic, reinforce and isolate as much as they could and just be careful when using magic around the house not to be too close to the 'mundane' room as some of his acquaintances called it. Unlike the old pureblood families they didn't have manors and estates seeped in centuries of god knows what type of magics, wards and spells.
In a few minutes it would be one in the afternoon and Cato De Leon would floo in to meet Michael and sort out the teaching agreement for Darrow. He'd arrive at the manor an hour before to go over business and to actually see his boss in person. Michael would only be in town for a few days and off he would go again. This time his boss had requested that he be here for the meeting and this time it was as actual backup in bodyguard capacity. This he understood the old man was dangerous, he was quick on the draw and a mind master, anything could happen. For that same reason Darrow had been sent away to the townhouse in muggle London.
Just as his thoughts were about to wander to the absentee father/son relationship the floo flared up three times indicating someone was 'calling'. Nick taped the control stone with his wand and a face appeared in the fire place.
"Mr. Lemington" the face said. "Am I clear to come through?"
"Mr. De Leon" Nick greeted. "Punctual" he remarked "You are clear to come through now." he continued as tapped two more crystals.
"Excellent, I will come through momentarily." And the face disappeared.
The werewolf heard footsteps and turned to see his employer, as it was the case the few times they met in person, wearing a custom tailored suit looking like a high powered businessman than a wizard. The only thing off about the image was the sunglasses he was sporting and the pair in his had now outstretched towards Nick.
"A small deterrent." Michael said as he handed them to Nick.
The floo flared brightly with a body materializing within the flames. The tall frame of the mind master stepped out from the fireplace. He took a moment to get his bearings with his eyes falling on Nick and his companion, with the werewolf taking that as his cue and stepping forward.
"Mr. De Leon, welcome to Miercuri estate." he said, shaking the man's hand he continued. "I would like to introduce my employer Michael Miercuri." he said, gesturing to the man beside him.
"Sunglasses, smart move. Pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Miercuri!" the tall mind master said while taking Michael's hand.
"Pleasure is all mine Mr. De Leon. I hope your stay so far in in England has been pleasant?" Michael asked with a smile.
"It most certainly has been, I saw some old friends, visited some attractions, overall a very pleasant experience especially since it was not on my dime." he replied with a sly smile.
"Excellent. Glad to hear it. Now if you would please follow me to my study I would like to get to the matter at hand. I already have some refreshments set up, coffee and tea as well, unless you need to first use the powder room?" Michael asked.
"Not at all, I would also like to get straight to it. Please lead the way." the old man answered.
Nick was internally happy. The meeting was going well. He had been a bit nervous since this was by far the most important project he'd taken on for his employer.
As the two men entered the office, Michael turned to him.
"Thank you Nick, as discussed, please wait here until we are done or I call for you."
"Sure thing." He nodded and closed the door.
The plan was simple. He would wait outside the door as backup while Michael discussed things with Cato. There were privacy charms that would ensure their voices would only be hear as a buzzing muffled sound but all the other noises would still come through. If there was a commotion heard then he was to burst in wand waving and help Michael.
He hoped it would not come to that. When it came to family secrets things could get dicey pretty fast and stupid decisions were easy to make. It was already hard enough being a registered werewolf and as much as he enjoyed the pay he did not want to be an accessory to assault or murder. Hell we was lucky enough to keep his wand after being bit, the ministry was looking for any excuse possible to restrict 'dark creatures'.
Satisfied with how things went so far, Nick took a seat on the chair outside the office and started reading the 'The Times' a muggle newspaper. His boss had asked him to keep up to date on the goings of the muggle world as he needed to be able to slip in and out of both societies depending on the work he was sent on.
He was halfway through skimming most of the headlines and roughing through the paper back and forth, no more than fifteen maybe twenty minutes in when LOUD CRASHING & BANGING startled him.
It took half a second to realize it came from the office, adrenaline kicking in. "SHIT!". Wand flicking into his hand, he moved, a flick of his wrist and the door almost ripped off its hinges opening.
With a shield and stunning spell ready to be unleashed at another flick of the wrist he rushed in to hopefully contain the threat to his employer. He did not expect the situation he saw in the office.
His boss was standing in an action pose with his right hand stretched out in front of him as if he was pushing something, the wall behind him had a scorch mark from a spell that hit it, the upturned desk along with a wand were floating to the side of the boss seemingly being controlled by his left hand.
"Everything alright boss?" He asked looking confused to where to point his wand until he turned around and saw the old man strung up in the air against the wall were the entrance was. The man was obviously being squished and from the muffled sounds being prevented from talking.
"Quite alright Nick. Mr. De Leon here just had a very strong reaction to some information." Michael said. Nick swallowed, the information could be anything, from family secrets, shady business deals to, well, murder. He had to be careful how he played this one, the worst situation coming through, he needed to de-escalate.
"Are those the wards acting on him? Should I stun him while you get your wand?" he asked.
"Ah the WARDS!" Michael said as if having an epiphany as a white light suddenly surrounded Mr. De Leon. "Completely forgot about them in the heat of the moment." he continued as he waved the desk back to the floor and relaxed his stance.
Nick was shocked. If it wasn't the wards before then it means his boss was using his own power to keep everything afloat. For any decent wizard this would be trivial...with a wand; however Michael was obviously not using a wand. The only wand that could be seen was the one floating towards him now which was the mind master's.
Wandless magic was possible, after all that's how children did accidental magic and even average wizards eventually used a bit of wandless magic in their lifetime, usually on small things around the house. Activate an enchantment to wash the dishes like they've done a million times before or light up a candle, there were even the odd cases of accidental magic from adults, usually when strong emotions were involved but nothing like this.
"That won't be necessary, as long as Mr. De Leon agrees to continue our conversation, in good faith and wandless of course." Michael specified as Nick grabbed the floating wand in front of him.
"That is agreeable with me." The mind master, now surrounded by the protective and restricting aura of the house wards, answered as he was slowly lowered to the ground. "Besides it seems I do not have a choice."
Nick saw Michael smile.
"No you do not."
"Very well, I will admit I may have overreacted." he answered back.
"Potentially, we have much more to discuss, I hope you will refrain from further action." the boss replied.
To Nick this whole conversation stunk to high heaven. Obviously whatever information the old man reacted to was quite shocking and according to Michael there was more to go.
"Nick, if you please go to the kitchen and bring over the remaining snacks, unfortunately these are ruined." His boss said pointing to the various biscuits on and cups on the floor.
He only nodded and left for the kitchen. The meeting lasted for another hour when the door finally opened and both parties stepped out.
"Do not worry young Nicholas, Mr. Miercuri and I have reached an agreement. My wand please." The werewolf looked at his boss for confirmation.
"Please." Michael said gesturing to the old man. "Cato will start Darrow's lessons in three days. Here at the mansion."
"Now is there anything else Cato?" Michael asked.
"That is all. I look forward to meeting young Darrow." he said with a sly smile.
These two were up to something that much he could tell, in the end he wasn't paid to stick his nose in this business but he couldn't shake up the foreboding feeling of being involved in something he did not want wish to be involved in.
Scene Break
Year 3, Day 330: Harry Potter Universe, July 1992
I managed to dodge the three colored bolts of spell in the chain but didn't realize they were merely a decoy to lure me into position so the fourth could get me. As soon as it hit my legs turned to jelly and I collapsed to the floor, the shock of it making me swing my arms upwards mimicking a wacky inflatable arms tube man.
The man responsible for my uncouth flailing about was Andreas Ullurson, the Swedish duel master Nick had found for me. Technically I could have sped up my perception and used my super speed to avoid the hit and overwhelm him however that wouldn't really teach me the skills that I needed. I had matched my speed to his for our training sessions.
About two dozen feet away from where I was, I could see with my enhanced eyesight, that he was starting to take heavier breaths and even a pang of sweat was on his brow. Truthfully I was getting tired as well. I always had to pretend to be more tired than I was, and even pretend to sweat which was harder to do at the beginning than I thought however the dueling training sessions did make me genuinely tired.
This was partially my fault but it was good, when I practiced my powers on my own it wasn't really in an intense environment so I had plenty of time to rest and recover. Not here, Andreas would run me through constant drills with only small breaks, mostly for him, then some theory and then all out dueling.
Like I said it was mostly my fault. When he accepted the contract he had been skeptical about the three hour timeslot for training, excessive for an eleven year old so I'm sure he thought we would take it very slow. So imagine his shock when in our first session I pretty much crushed all the exercises without breaking a sweat. I was flinging spells and destroying dummies left right and center faster than he could repair and conjure them back up. I also had decent aim which helped a lot.
I'm sure he had expected an easy two month all paid vacation in England with some light teaching. No eleven year old had the magical stamina for three hour sessions three times a week. Not at the pace we were going at least. After the revelation of my monstrous stamina in that first session the training was upped.
The first hour consisted of target practice, lots of it, stationary targets and then moving targets with each session having increasingly faster, smaller and more complicated patters. The second hour consisted of spell chains. Every duelist had a set of spells that they could cast easily, quickly and wordlessly. More than that it was a set of spells that they would master and be able to adapt for different situation.
Andreas explained that as duelists progressed they would advance to have sets of chains of spells that they would be able to master and use. Modern professional dueling, focused a lot on speed, chain spells and patterns, especially if you were in the non-transfiguration leagues. The heavy weight leagues were the no holds bar ones where pretty much anything went as long as it wasn't a direct deadly assault on your opponent. This meant that you couldn't send a cutting charm to remove your opponent's hand since that was considered a deadly direct attack but you could transfigure a rock into an a lion to maul your opponent …..because logic.
We had been at it for two and a half hours now and it was time for a small break.
"Finite!" I said resolutely and dispelled that jelly legs jinx.
"You did very well." The tall Swede remarked. "The only reason I pinned you is because you dodge a lot more to your right. So I knew that's where you'd most likely step to." He continued with a flick of his wand two water bottles floated from the table towards us. We were in my own underground basement dueling arena at Miercuri Estate. There is a reason my manor cost so much money, aside from the muggle hook up requirements, the expansive land and the state of the art wards, the manor had many enchanted and expanded spaces for use. And that cost money, rune work is expensive work.
"Thanks!" I said and took a swing of the bottle. My body practically absorbing the refreshing water.
"It's amazing really, you're progress, at eleven I was barely able to hit a slow moving target let alone dodge chain spells from masters." He said.
"You know I'm almost twelve!" I said frowning, playing the child. Fuck it I'm starting puberty early, I'm going to give myself another inch this summer.
He laughed. "Yes a genuine teenager!" he paused for a moment, I could see he was getting serious. "If you keep up the progress for the remaining of summer and you keep practicing at school, I will ask your father permission to enter you in the French under 17 tournament next summer."
Aww! daam! Do I want to compete in a dueling tournament? I have a feeling it's just going to be a waste of time.
"The tournament is in August so we'll have one month to train before it. Normally I'd say you should enter the under 13 section but at the rate you're going you should be more than qualified for the under 17 section." He continued.
"Ugh, sure that sounds great!" Why did I say that? Eh worst case I'll get my 'father' to reject the idea.
"You lot done for the day? I brought lunch!" Nick interrupted us.
My summer schedule was pretty packed, so on days like these Nick was on food duty, he was my errand boy after all. Three times a week I had three hours of dueling in the morning and three hours of Occlumency training in the afternoon. Cato was annoyed that I scheduled him in the afternoon but to me it just felt like mind arts training shouldn't happen first thing in the morning. I had wanted in the evening but Cato put his foot down, he wanted to be out of here by 5pm so he could have the rest of the day off. I understood the man, 2-5pm was annoying it broke the day into awkward parts. Dueling was 9am to 12pm and Sambo practice was on the off days.
That was more of a class with other folks actually and mostly done to learn the techniques. It had to be that way. I needed days when I could be alone without Nick there. Having private lessons with an adult coming to a kids home without anyone present to supervise would be kind of weird. I would probably be reported for neglect. But going to a class was with other people was ok. I could be 'dropped off and picked up' without anyone knowing, also this was the early 90s so even as I kid I could roam the streets peacefully, with my added height and weight I looked more like a 14 year old anyway.
Sambo practice was ok. I did it mostly so I could learn the techniques, practicing with other people was hard simply because of my monstrous strength. I had to be very careful not to slip up and hurt someone. Either way I was still learning and my strength control was getting better and better.
On the off days, when I had privacy, is when I got most of my personal matters done, studying magic, research or popping in and out of universes literally taking care of business.
"Almost done, another half hour. I want to run Darrow through a few more exercises." Andreas replied. He and Nick had gotten along quite well and I'm pretty sure they even went out drinking a few times. In his late forties it seemed Andreas was a dedicated bachelor and quite enjoyed the city and the nightlife.
"We still need to work on your movement and casting. You still have the bad habit of stopping and trying to cast. Fluidity is key. You have to be able to do both at the same time."
I sighed, he was right of course. It was a habit from practicing my powers for the past three years. I usually did it one step at a time stopped, visualized and did what I intended to do whether it was throwing fireballs, lightning or super-speed there was a moment where I stopped and froze in place concentrating. It's how he got me today as well, not only did he position me how he wanted but I was also took a second too long stopping and trying to cast my Expelliarmus at him.
Well practice makes perfect!
"Yea let's do it! By the end of summer I want to be able to at least match you!"
Scene Break
'WHACK!'
"Owww! What was that for!?" I yelled and opened my eyes to see Cato holding only what could be described as a school teacher's pointer stick, one that had just hit me over the head.
"You stopped concentrating. That chair turned back into a tree." He said pointing to a tree to my left side.
We were in my mind scape, where half the world around us was an office and the other half smoothly transitioned into a forest, courtesy of Cato whose presence in my mind felt like a baby grasping my brain in its tiny hands. Overall the pressure was much better than the first few sessions where I felt like gravity turned to 11 in my head and had a huge migraine afterwards.
Yea, someone invading your mind, not a pleasant thing though he did do it on purpose the first few times, so I could get used to it and because and I quote 'I should be able to handle the strain'…dick!.
"I just find it hard to meditate here; I mean I'm already meditating to be here, it's weird to meditate in my meditation!" I exclaimed.
"The mind arts are just that an art, it will be even weirder when you are able to enter someone else' mind. You need to learn how to focus when you're focusing, so for now I suggest you-
'WHACK!'
"AUWW!"
Concentrate!" Cato finished as a clone of him materialized and hit me with his stick on the shoulder from behind. Leaving the stick pressured on my shoulder he continued before I could rant again.
"Now take a deep breath and exhale, close your eyes, and follow the rhythm of my breathing, concentrate on turning the rest of the forest into your office room." He said as he closed his eyes and took depth soothing breaths, settling into a calming pattern.
I scowled and followed suit matching his breathing. I concentrated on turning each successive inch of forest back into hardwood floor, trees melting in tiles, shrubs in cushions, slowly transforming Cato's domain into mine and asserting control over what I should already be master of, my mind. Seconds passed and turned into minutes as continued in my transformative nirvana state.
"Please tell me why you materialized a giant monkey eating ice-cream on your desk?" the question startled me out of my zone.
"What? Where?" I said as I opened my eyes.
'WHACK!'
"AAHH GOD DAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL!" I yelled.
"There is No monkey Darrow, this is your mind you should have known if YOU materialized a monkey!" Cato interrupted my rage. "And please STOP taking the LORD's name in vain!" he said resolutely.
That actually stopped my rage in its tracks.
"Wait what? You, a Wizard with magic powers, believe in GOD? GOD as in G.O.D?" I asked incredulously.
Cato looked at me with a deadpan expression.
"Do I believe in GOD? …Asks the bonafide Olympian deity sitting before me." He responds sarcastically.
A moment of silence passes between us.
"Fair enough, touché, point well made." I concede. "Now, could you please stop hitting me with your Stupid stick! It hurts a lot!"
"The stick and pain are quite literally only in your mind. They are only as real as you make them. If you do not want me to have it then make it so!" he responded as a multitude of his clones materialized and descended upon me.
'WHACK!'
'WHACK!'
'WHACK!'
"AHHH STOP IT!" I raged and unleashed a wave of energy dispelling his constructs.
"YOU KNOW I COULD CRUSH YOU OUT THERE!" I yelled frustrated.
"Yes you could." He acknowledged. "Like a cockroach you would crush me under your foot and yet in here you can barely keep it together." He said smugly and continued before I could interrupt.
"Now, if you were truly an eleven year old boy I would say that judging by your progress you were an absolute genius in the mind arts however since you are not, and I don't exactly have a frame of reference for an entity like yourself, it is best that we push you to your limits and find out how well you can actually do." He stopped for a moment looking pensive.
"Besides, in a few weeks you will be returning to Hogwarts where the headmaster is not only the most powerful wizard of our age but also a dreadfully competent mind master. If you were to be discovered I doubt you would fare as well as you did against me, besides I told you how we sometimes read surface thoughts, yes? Make no mistake Dumbledore is the same, even if he doesn't want to he might not be able to help himself. We need to advance you as much as possible before your return."
I pondered his words for a moment. He was right. I was alright in the first year but that doesn't mean it would continue. Further exposure means higher risk of Dumbledore or Snape reading my mind.
"Fine, fine .. just take it easy with the stick ok!"
"Very well. Now I would like to show you something. Take a look at this tree." He said pointing to a tree a few meters behind him.
"Yes what about it?" I asked.
"That used to be the cabinet"
'WHACK!'
" GRAAAHH! Son of A …!"
Scene Break
"What do you mean they're sold out?" I asked the clerk at Flourish and Blotts. A current of annoyed-ness tinged my tone. I could tell from his reaction that I wasn't the only customer to ask that question today.
"Just like I said it's all sold out. "Magical Me' along with most of his works are all sold out. Most sold out last week." He responded.
I almost let out a growl in annoyance. I left shopping for school supplies until the last minute and now all of Lockhart's books were sold out. I specifically avoided the whole nonsense between him and Potter and Malfoy Sr. passing the cursed diary to Ginny. Lockhart obviously took a page out of the muggle university professor handbook and made his published books a reading requirement for his classes. This summer probably had the highest sale of his books ever with the whole student body of Hogwarts literally buying thousands of copies. Fucking guy ..but part of me does respect the hustle.
"We have in stock 'Holidays with Hags', 'The Travel Trilogy' and 'Who am I' for the rest we will get new stock in three weeks' time. If you would like you can pay for them now and I will have them delivered to you at Hogwarts." He continued.
"I saw a couple in the display windows, can't I purchase those ones?" I asked further.
"Ah, unfortunately no, we are required to keep those on display as per the contract with the publishing company." The clerk answered.
"Can't we just Gemini them? I'll pay full price." I suggested.
I really wanted to get those books and do some reading ahead. Not that I particularly thought they would be very helpful but I did want to suck up majorly to Lockhart. Why would I suck up to Lockhart? Simple, my aim was to ask him for permission to go to the restricted section of the library. And if that didn't work I was going to try to use the technique Hermione used, get him to sign an autograph on a note saying I have permission.
"Well the store is warded against that and there are enchantments on the books to prevent it as well, besides even if I broke through them if word got out that I Gemini'ed the books his solicitors and publishing company will be all over me." He replied sternly.
I sighed and let the anger dissolve out of me. There wasn't much I could do now.
"Fine I'll do the delivery option." I accepted. "Do you also have any book recommendations on harvesting animal parts?"
The clerk raised an eyebrow.
Scene Break
"And you trust him?" asked the tall, skinny and scruffy looking wizard named Brian.
"Fully? No." Nick answered. The crowd of 6 people before him did an almost a synchronized frown.
"Like I said before. I can't give out too many details about my work for Mr. Miercuri, he's got me locked up both muggle and magically tighter than a drum, NDAs, magical contracts the whole course of legal bindings. But so far none of the work has been too shady or too hard. Paid on time like clockwork, bonus as well. " Nick continued.
All six people before Nick were werewolves. Their pack, which Nick through his girlfriend was part of, consisted of about 40 to 50 some odd werewolves. Once you became a werewolf whether you liked it or not you somehow ended up meeting and hanging out with other werewolves. Sometimes through official means and other times through less reputable means.
Life was hard and it was easier to get support from other folks with the same affliction. Wizards discriminated a lot and Nick had lost some friends once he was bitten. Life seemed bleak but then slowly but surely he found others who offered him help and support.
The group he was part of wasn't a strictly defined pack like some other groups where a few people ruled with an iron hand, they were more like a group of people who helped each other when needed and who by will or necessity ended up hanging out together often enough to be considered a 'pack'. He couldn't really say they were all good friends but they did seem to pull together and help when members were in need.
So when his boss tasked him with hiring folks for the farms and some of the other businesses, both magical and muggle and mentioned that other wolves would be fine he had felt obligated to present the opportunity to his fellows.
Brian looked pensively and rubbed his scruffy beard. He was the unofficial leader of the pack. At 50 years he wasn't the oldest or strongest of their group of people but he had been a werewolf for over four decades which gave him a lot of experience. That and he had a way with managing the others, he was usually the one that rallied group to help when members were in trouble, and he had a way of convincing other to listen to reason. If he could get Brian onboard then others would follow.
"I admit the pay is pretty good. Would be able to afford the potion each month, help take some pressure off." Brian finally said. Most of the rest acknowledge it with a nod. Truthfully it wasn't like they had many options. People in their condition usually took what work they could get.
"Free lodging on the farms for those who want it. Nothing fancy of course but they will be connected with the floo network, so you'll be able to come and go easily, powder will be part of the farm budget as long as it's not abused." Nick added.
"Yea but what the hell do we know about taking care of unicorns and hippogriffs?" asked Miles. He was the youngest in this group at 18 years old. Bitten at 10, his whole family attacked in Ireland, he was the only one to survive. Brian found him a few years back and took care of him, ever since then he was attached to the hip to the older wolf.
Andrew unwillingly let out a laugh through his nose. "Lad, I've shoveled worse shit for less money to make due. You learn quick." He said. Andrew was a few years younger than Nick and bitten around the same age. Unfortunately for him he already had a family to support, not exactly an easy thing when you couldn't get regular work. Needless to say his kid did not attend Hogwarts, couldn't afford the fees. "Fifteen hundred for a year is pretty darn good. As long as it's steady. Too many want to shaft us on pay."
"That's to start if you have no experience. You get a bump if you already have work experience and you get another bump if you have good clean papers on the muggle side plus don't forget the 10% sign-on and 10% yearly bonus." Nick added.
"Aye that's all well and good but working with magical creatures is dangerous, half of us don't even have wands. We'll lose a limb in the first week." Craig said.
"That can be resolved. I've already talked to him about it." Nick replied confidently.
"How?" Greg asked. He and Craig were brothers, he the older by two years. Their family was attacked in the last year of the war over a decade ago. The two survived their wounds their family didn't. "Even the cunts in Knockturn won't sell us shite. Not since the ministry cracked down on them and I don't exactly have a thousand galleons sitting around to get a second rate wand." He asked.
Both brothers lost their wands in an eerily similar scenario to this. They were hired to do some work by an old groggy wizard who tried to shaft them on pay once it was done. Greg lost it and punched the guy right in the face. Laid him flat. Of course the Aurors were called and it was an absolute miracle they only got away with having their wands snapped.
Nick smiled.
"Let's say I would like to take my mates on a nice vacation across the pond, the muggle way, you know to congratulate them on getting new jobs or something the like. And let's say we happen to go visit the magical quarter and let's just say it just so happens that my mates all just happened to have some cash to spend." Nick said with a smirk. "Nothing but a bunch of british wizards on vacation buying some American made wands."
Nick saw Brian's eyes lit up with a smile. Even more than money the people in their group needed wands.
After all what is a wizard without a wand?
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 4: Harry Potter Universe, September 1992
Returning to Hogwarts had been pretty uneventful.
At the train station I met with Terry and Michael and we took up a compartment together. Mandy was in a different compartment with Sue Li and Padma and some of the other Ravenclaw girls. Surprisingly Seamus joined us as well instead of the usual Gryffindor crew he hung out with. I'm pretty sure it's because he came late to the station and chose the first compartment where he recognized someone.
The boys knew of each other as I had introduced them in passing in the prior year and as it is with kids once you start talking about common interest like movies, video games and summer adventures house rivalries are put to the back of everyone's mind.
Since the boats were reserved strictly for first years, I guess to get that extra wow factor, we took the carriages. Professor Vector and the prefects were supervising to ensure we each boarded one. I was surprised that I could see the Thestrals, majestic creatures in an ugly and skinny way, as I had not experienced death outside of internet videos and TV but I'm sure that doesn't count. Another thing I am chalking up to my status as a deity.
In the great hall during sorting the only first years that I recognized were Colin Creavey, Ginny Weasley and of course little Luna Lovegood. As expected Colin went to Gryffindor and Luna into Ravenclaw. I was pretty torn about the whole diary situation. On one hand I didn't really want people to get hurt on the other hand I wanted the plot to stay the same. The kids would eventually be un-petrified and Harry would slay the basilisk.
Lockhart was at the teachers table looking well..dashing. The man knew how to present himself he was also looked to be in his early thirties instead of mid-forties like in the movies. I still hadn't managed to get his books yet, they would be delivered in about a week or so. Hopefully the man's personality would be the same as the movies. If I wouldn't be able to suck up hard enough to give me permission to go to the restricted section then at least I would be able to swindle it out of him like Hermione.
I also noticed that some of my classmates had started to sprout up. Puberty was starting early for some including me. I had 'grown' another inch during the summer and looked a bit older. Honestly I'm getting annoyed looking like a kid.
The feast overall was good and I was happy that Patky remembered my drink preferences while everyone was enjoying pumpkin juice I drank my refreshing sparkling water. Soon enough we were back in the tower. Professor Flitwick came and gave the same speech as last year and afterwards the prefects started their spiel.
I didn't pay much attention to it as I knew the rules from last year. As second years we still had to register for tutorials with our housemates so really no change.
Luna looked as cute as a button, very proper and prim like all the first years and quite similarly to the actress in the movies with features a bit more refined. Then again she was eleven years old so there was time to grow into her look in the movies.
Leaving the first years aside I had another task at hand, my books for DADA wouldn't come fore another week or so therefore I needed to borrow them and brush up on all that is Lockhart.
Sucking up starts now!
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 35: Harry Potter Universe, October 1992
"Mate, I don't understand why you have to volunteer to help the DADA professor, he's already got like six TAs!" Michael Corner exclaimed.
I took a moment to let the question hang. We had just finished dinner and heading back to the dorms. Michael wanted to review potions homework before the weekend and get it done with and I was ruining his plans. Every Friday since the school year has started I volunteered to help Lockhart with whatever office work he needed. Why he picked me from all the other students that volunteered the same way it's quite simple, I was the only guy that actually volunteered.
Lockhart's personality was very close to the movie cannon from what I could see so far. He was a dashing young adventurer with a charming personality and extremely good articulation, guess he had to be since he was a writer. It was easy to see how all the girls would soon over him, which in turn made all the boys react the opposite way.
"Well for one, all of the TAs are girls, very well endowed girls!" I replied with a hint of pervyness. "And they try to get his attention in all sorts of ways. You know he doesn't require robes for his office hours. Last week Sarah was pretty much popping out of her shirt.
"The knockers on that one! I can't believe I haven't noticed her before." Terry remarked. It's because your balls hadn't even started to drop yet. Yea, the wonderful cocktail of hormones that was puberty was starting to affect the boys.
"And second, his stories are very interesting. I genuinely enjoy hearing about them." I didn't really care for them I was just sucking up to him. Like I said it was my luck that only girls signed up to be his teaching assistants and even someone with his ego knew that it was bad optics to constantly be alone with young girls that worshipped and hung on every word you said. So when I volunteered he immediately agreed just to balance things out.
"Come on Darrow, you know his stories are bogus. There are a lot of inconsistencies and the like half the timelines don't add up!" Michael continued and Terry only nodded.
"You're right about that but all great writers embellish a bit, especially when it's about their autobiography. It's human nature, you got to try to make yourself look better and make things more exciting." I paused. "What would you prefer to read, that he spent four weeks going from village to village collecting rumors and stories about mysterious creatures attacking the countryside in the Ukraine or that he seduced a hag, got chased by her husband and escaped the muggle authorities and then tracked down the creature?" I asked.
"You know he probably made that up as well. No way he fought a werewolf. Half the time he never gets the spells from the book right!" Terry argued.
"Eh, you're probably right about that one. But you still have to admit he is still pretty entertaining!" They didn't look like they were satisfied so I decided to throw them a bone.
"Ok fine, I do have an ulterior motive for sucking up to him so much." Both boys eyebrows shot up. "But I can't tell you yet. Not until I realize my goal. I promise it will be worth it!" That seemed to calm them down. We soon split up with them heading back to the dorms and me towards the DADA office.
Actually I had already realized my goal; I had 'tricked' Lockhart into autographing a note that gave me permission to access the restricted section. I just wanted to see if he would actually give me permission himself first before I used the 'counterfeit'.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 64: Harry Potter Universe, October 1992
The common room and dorms were filled with students gossiping. Mrs. Norris, the caretakers cat was found petrified along with the famous writing on the wall 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened Enemies of the heir beware'. The rumor mill was going strong.
Speculation from Potter, Malfoy, Snape some of the older Slytherines and for some reason professor Sinistra. Which I think it was only because of her name.
The invisible hand that ensures the world revolves around Harry Potter was hard at work. I did feel bad for Ginny, she was a cute kid and wouldn't deserve what was going to happen to her. On the other hand this would harden her up and strengthen her resolve in pursuing Harry.
I could go kill the basilisk, I'm not sure it will have the same effect on me, plus I can always just go god mode and it shouldn't be able to see me. While the giant snake might be resistant to magical attacks I doubt it will be able to resist me super freezing it in a block of ice and exploding it to pieces.
I didn't particularly want to do that because honestly they need to go through this experience and understand that not all adults in power are trustworthy, well mostly Hermione needs to understand this. Just because they look like prince charming doesn't mean they are.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 95: Harry Potter Universe, December 1992
I was using all of my mental capabilities to steady my breathing and resist the urge to fidget on the spot as the piercing silence and unflinching gaze of Madam Pince avalanched into my very soul searching for the minute cracks of my conviction.
"So if I was to speak with Professor Lockhart right now he would be able to validate this note?" she finally asked.
I focused my mind with a resounding purpose, vividly bringing the memory at the forefront of my consciousness. I raised my gaze and looked into the portals of her own soul.
"Yes mam." I answered. She raised an eyebrow expecting more. "He said Ravenclaws aren't Gryffindors, that preparation is key for us and if I was going to follow in his footsteps and hunt dark creatures I should start learning everything there is to know about them as soon as possible." I word vomited out faster than expected.
She held her gaze for another short moment then relented.
"Very well Darrow." She answered resigned. "You know the rules for the restricted section and the Periculum spell yes?" she asked and I nodded. "Good. Keep your wand on you the whole time, there really shouldn't be any problems it's just school policy and do watch out for your hands and nose. The creature & monster books do tend to bite."
"Ah, yes. Thank you Madam Pince." I said and was actually thank full to be dismissed from her unnerving gaze. There was just something about that woman.
I did actually get permission from Lockhart for the restricted section and I did actually convince him that I wanted to become a great adventurer like him. It was fairly easy to steer the conversation to trying to be prepared and hearing the older students talk about how much they learned in the restricted section. Easy peasy, just a few months of sucking up to the vain man and using me as a shield from the all-female TA team he had.
Needless to say Terry, Michael and Mandy were jealous.
Making 12 to 13 year old children jealous of my teacher sucking up skills. CHECK!
Now, time to explore.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 105: Harry Potter Universe, December 1992
Honestly Sarah! Have some self-respect dammit. The man is not going to wipe his desk clean, throw you on it and make sweet, sweet love to you right here right now in his office. Not with me present at least and he wouldn't want me attending the office hours here if he did want to fuck your brains out.
Not that I wasn't enjoying the view. The busty 6th year Ravenclaw TA was asking for help on grading one of the third year assignments and leaning extra hard next to Lockhart, half unbuttoned shirt of course just enough to get a full view of that amazing cleavage.
And a full view I was getting. I was sitting exactly across the room at a desk answering fan mail for Lockhart, mostly writing back generic responses and with my enhanced eyesight I was able to see well everything.
I absentmindedly opened another letter and looked to read the nonsense his fans usually sent- and WOW!
"Professor!" I said getting both of them to look up. "I think you should answer this one personally sir." I said and moved to hand him the envelope with a big grin.
"Let me see Darrow." He answered and reached out across the desk towards me, Sarah looking curiously over his shoulder.
He removed the contents of the envelope, it took a few seconds to register at what they were both looking and then both Lockhart and Sarah blushed furiously.
Lockhart quickly put the contents back into the envelope. And made a coughing sound.
"Now I hope you are both mature enough to understand that sometimes adults do-" and the man hesitated for a moment "-curious things to express their adoration, their love." Yea the TA just went up one shade of red. The two women in those pictures were definitely doing 'curious' things to each other and a cut out of Lockhart. "And of course there is nothing wrong with that, as long as it's between two consenting adults." I couldn't tell the difference between a lobster and Sarah now.
Lockhart made another clearing throat sound and decided to cut things short.
"Well, I think that should be all for today. I will be able to handle the rest and Sarah I trust your judgment on the assignments."
"Thank you Professor!" she muttered not being able to look him in the eye.
She was embarrassed that was for sure but I could tell the wheels were also spinning; Lockhart was definitely going to receive some pictures from her in the near future.
"Ah, I do hope I will see you both at the dueling club in the next week! Should be a grand time!" he finished with a charming smile.
"Yes professor." She responded I only nodded and we made our way out to the dorms.
We were walking in tense silence, the hallways empty, Sarah holding a stack of assignments she was going to finish grading over the weekend.
"So why were those women licking that image of Lockhart down there?" I suddenly asked.
The girl almost face planted.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 111: Harry Potter Universe, December 1992
"Darrow! You missed it mate!" Terry yelled the moment he saw me.
"Yea it was absolutely bollocks!" Michael affirmed.
"Straight pandemonium." Mandy added. "One of the Gryffindor girls even got into a fist fight with a Slytherin girl."
"Wow, ok one at a time please. What happened?"
"The dueling club! Half the school attended!" Terry confirmed.
Right the dueling club. I didn't attend specifically because half the school was going to be there so I would have some much needed privacy with no one looking for me. I went and checked up on a few things in the other universes. Both Haley and Aaron were pushing for some deals and some social events that I would have to attend during the holidays. The boss does need to show up once in a while and support the troops.
Terry continued his story and it seemed things were on track. Snape put Lockhart on his ass. Draco dueled Potter and now everyone knows Potter is a Parselmouth.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 121: Resource Universe 5, December 1983
"And of course lastly I would like to thank Haley." I said to the crowd of Umbra Corp. employees. "Without her leadership we would not have been able to reach so far in such a short time." It's true, this Haley was performing outstandingly. Within a few months of closing the cement plant deal she had secured supply contracts to several upcoming big developments in southern California.
Fair enough she was helped by the fact that financing for refurbishing the plant was ensured by my bottomless purse. Once you had a business going for a few years, like our little Umbra Corp, it was so much easier to launder money and even gold. Operational history meant transactional history which meant credit history, banks started to trust the corporation more, we were even mixing real loans with 'shady' ones.
With the burden of financing removed, allowance of very generous expense accounts and my 'tips' of future developments the executive team that Haley brought onboard, who were all in attendance tonight after all they all wanted a chance to schmooze with their absentee rich benefactor, was free fully concentrate their efforts contract acquisition. Business was expanding, fast.
"I put my full trust and confidence behind her. Her word is my word." I finish with a definitive tone. The business was expanding fast and the exec team was already increasing past the friends and colleagues Haley brought with her, naturally, expanding needs meant she had to look for more experienced help in various areas. As well with Umbra Corp being solely owned by me meant that ultimately I had the final say in everything that happened with the business. And with me being present tonight there would be quite a lot of people who would try to suck up and influence my opinion on strategy and operational matters.
While I didn't think that there would be any challengers to Haley's role yet I knew there would eventually be so I thought it best to make it clear that she is unequivocally in charge plus it would help to act as a shield from me being dragged into the minutia of everyday crap.
"Thank you Phillip!" Haley said. Philip J. Fry was the identity I used for Umbra Corp. in this REU. I had been tempted to actually name the company Planet Express but eh that might have been too much on the nose.
Haley and stood up and started her own speech recapping what's been achieved so far and giving thanks to the team. I inwardly sighed, this swanky Hollidays party was going to take a while.
I really miss my family around this time of the year.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 180: Harry Potter Universe, February 1983
The chilly morning air filled my lungs bathing in innards in a sensation of fresh wakefulness. The sun was still a few minutes away before it started its rise. My arms were spread wide my skin exposed, except for the speedo I was wearing, my toes were slightly curled and pressing into the ground. I was taking in all that made February mornings great.
I had kept up my swimming sessions throughout the year. I couldn't help it. The lake was right there, I felt compelled to take a dip now and then. I didn't need to but I wanted to dam it!
Water is good.
Water is soothing.
Water is lif-.
"Do you talk with Mr. Squid?"
"AHH!" I yelped and jump in surprise at the sudden tiny musical voice interrupting.
"I'm sorry if I frightened you." I turn around to see none other than little Luna Lovegood.
"That's quite alright." I respond. "Uh, sorry, what did you say earlier. I was kind of concentrating on-" and here I stop and look around unsure "-kind of everything really and nothing at all."
"That's quite alright. I do that sometimes as well, I walk and without focusing where's I'm going sometimes I end up in strange places of the castle or I bump into people." The little girl replied.
"Right, guess that could happen." I awkwardly answer. The little girl is a bit odd with her unwavering big silver eyes looking up at me. "So you asked something earlier right?"
"Yes, do you talk with Mr. Squid? I tried talking with him however he doesn't seem to answer me." Luna asked.
"Ah, yes I do talk with him, kind of, he can't really talk back you know. But he does react when I talk to him." I respond.
Luna smiled, though it seemed to be in a sad kind of way.
"That must be very nice. I do hope he would talk to me as well. Do you think he talks to you because there are no Nargles following you like they do to me?" she asked.
I blinked trying to register what she said.
"No, I don't think it is that." Her demeanor turned a bit sad at my response.
"Have you been calling him Mr. Squid or Squiddy by any chance?" I asked her and she nods curiosity peaked.
"Ah well you see that's the problem right there. He doesn't like that name. All the students call him that and it's a bit too squishy for him. He much prefers AEGIR" I pause for dramatic effect and make a sweeping motion with my arms. "The MIGHTY CRAKEN!"
The little girl bursts into a fit of giggles. "That's a very wonderful name, I quite like it. I shall use it from now on."
"I've never talked with a Craken before, what do you usually talk about?" she continued.
"Well, the last couple of days we've been mostly discussion on the best ways to launch me into the air so I can do flips and stuff and land back in the water. We've practiced quite a bit as well-" I stop, so concentrated I was on her face that I did not really notice the rest of her.
"Wait, why aren't you wearing shoes?" I asked. Her smile died down not quite into a frown but enough to notice the sadness.
"I think they might have magically disappeared – I think the Nargles took them." I frown at the little girl. "But it's ok they will eventually find their way back to me." She continued with an upbeat perk in her tone. "You're also not wearing any either." She pointed out.
"Well, I'm going swimming so I'm not supposed to." I remarked. Before I could continue she interrupted.
"Do you think I could watch?" she asked pensively. "Watch you and Aegir practice flips? I've never seen any before." Big, sad, earnest silver eyes saying the unspoken truth that she didn't want to return to the dorm, that she wasn't included in activities with her classmates. At that moment the emotional weight of a thousand fanfictions showcasing Luna's plight and her purity of soul buried themselves into my mind.
"Sure. Of course you can." I said trying not to let any sadness flow through my tone. "But first let's make sure you are comfortable."
I bring my hands together in front of her, a bright blue light taking shape between them and with all of my existence, mind, body and soul I willed into existence a pair of boots.
Boots that would be as comfortable as the wearer needed them to be, as soft and warm as possible.
Boots that would always find their way back to her.
Boots that would whisk her away from danger when she needed to.
Boots, that I knew with every fiber of my being would no explode or disappear.
My very first 'divine' conjuration.
"Please, put these on." I say to her.
"Thank you, that was beautiful!" she responds.
I smile and turn back to towards the lake.
Time to put on a show!
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 260: Harry Potter Universe, May 1983
I was meditating in the Yogi position hovering about half a meter above the ground in the middle of the RoR. I had kept up my daily practice of the required mind arts and it was starting to pay some very serious dividends.
My ability to remember and internalize information had practically doubled, combine that with speed reading and I was crushing a lot material in the restricted section. There were all kinds of interesting books there filled with rituals, curses or ancient lore's. Hell if it wasn't the fact I didn't want to overdo it with Madam Pince's graces for me I would spend most of my time there. It's always good to know more magic even if I didn't have any particular application for it now my Occlumency would eventually allow me to store and retrieve the information at a later date.
I would have my own library in my head.
After the whole ordeal with Luna I had a breakthrough in my conjuration and transfiguration. No more explosions which was great and I'm pretty sure my conjurations and transfigurations were permanent if I wished so.
Wizards my 'age' wouldn't be able to transfigure something permanently or even conjure anything, actually most wizards wouldn't be able to transfigure permanently unless they were very experienced and powerful at it. Runes and rituals were usually involved if you wanted to make things permanent.
This past year in class we learned the standard transfiguration spells for turning objects into living things and back, cup to bird or mice and back, that sort of thing. It was all practice, practice, practice, which admittedly did help to build confidence in the children and prevent them from creating monstrosities.
Which I totally did by accident. Yea I wanted to start customizing my transfigurations and some atrocities happened. I had to quickly steel my stomach and kill the unholy things with exploding energy balls. PETA would absolutely hate my guts.
I did create some pretty sweet ass Jurassic Park style Velociraptors and they turned out great. A bit too great actually. I created them in the image of the movie without actually tying them to my will.
So Velociraptors did what velociraptors do.
I'm probably the only person in multiple realties that wrestled a bunch of velociraptors into submission. The poor creatures were very confused when my tiny form started manhandling them around.
I also practiced my chain spells and was able to nicely use them in superspeed mostly because I was able to better transition both my perception and movement a lot smoother now. Thank you Occlumency training!
Right now I was focusing on water. Water was my easiest element to control and conjure. I concentrated and visualized the effect I wanted. From deep within me I felt an expansion of energy pushing beyond the low hum that I would normal feel underneath my skin. I restrained it right before it would explode beyond outward.
With great focus I visualized water pushing out of my every pore coating every inch of my body, every strand of hair in an encompassing thin protective layer. Next I focused on my bustling energy, I took three breaths, cleared my mind and pictured only one thought, one idea, one intent: 'PROTECT'. I pushed the energy past my skin infusing the layer of water with the energy.
I opened my eyes and realized I was radiating white light. I focused once again and willed a portion of the energy within me until the light was a dim blue and finally until I stopped glowing altogether. Can't go walking around looking like an LDE Christmas light-bulb.
I had created my ultimate shield, the thin layer of water acted as container and molder for my energy. The water would be able to mould and strengthen as required in order to protect me from things that I perceive as danger. While I'm practically invulnerable to a majority of physical attacks I am still vulnerable to magic. Spell still affect me and while I am able to null their effects quite easily I'm still not sure what would happen if something like the Killing Curse hits me.
On the other hand a majority of spells usually affect the first solid thing they hit. It's why the unstoppable killing curse was easily stopped by physical shields such as a metal shield, a brick wall or a stone statue sure they usually exploded but it did stop the actual curse.
I looked at the table a dozen feet away and telekinetically launched the bludger towards my face at high speed. In the blink of an eye an ice square a few inches thick appeared a few inches in front of my face and took the impact of the bludger without breaking.
I could see the strands of water from my neck leading to the floating ice. The square was absorbed back into water and the strands retreated back to my body.
Excellent!
"Now to figure out how to do it without turning into a walking puddle." I remarked at my soaked clothes and hair.
Scene Break
Year 4, Day 290: Harry Potter Universe, June 1983
"I can't believe Professor Hooch is assigning so much DADA homework!" Mandy said exasperated as we were walking towards the Great Hall. The hallways was filled with groaning and anxious students. Exams were in closing in and everyone was trying to catch-up on work.
Madam Hooch was filling in for Lockhart. She was a jack of all trades when it came to teaching. She could step in to fill almost all positions under fifth year and she often did when required. If I understood correctly sometimes she would teach a full term depending on scheduling conflicts.
"Yea, it's not our fault Lockhart didn't teach anything useful!" Michael agreed.
"It's just our stupid luck. He just had to have an accident a month before the year ends! Bloody idiot!" Michael continued.
"Hey!" I remarked with feigned offense. "He wasn't that bad! His classes were more interesting than Quirrill's! At least he had good stories to tell. Besides Mandy weren't you all batting your eyelashes at him for half the term?"
Mandy blushed. "Yea don't remind me! I didn't know he was not going to teach us anything useful!"
"Yea mate, you're only saying it because he gave you access to the restricted section." Michael agreed.
"Hah, you two are just jealous of my suck up skills!" I responded sticking my chin up in in faux pride taking a few strutting strides forward.
"Darrow the suck up! Is that really how you want to be known? You better watch out that name might stick!" Mandy said.
I stopped and turned back towards them with a big smile on my face stopping them in their tracks.
"Make that Darrow the Suck Up Who Is Going to Ace His Exams because he has Hooch's DADA Tests From Three Years Ago!"
"What? How?" Mandy asked surprised.
"Sarah, from 6th year, she was one of Lockhart's TAs. I made friends with her during office hours. She said Hooch also had to fill in 4 years ago and uses the same test. So she gave me hers." I paused for a moment.
"So you can see sucking up is paying dividends!" I finished.
"What that is so not fair!" Mandy remarked.
"Yea mate, you're going to share those, right?" Michael asked.
I started stroking my chin in an exaggerated thinking motion.
"Maybe, depends?" and left it as a question mark.
"Depends on what?" Michael asked.
"On how well you guys suck up to me? See I sucked up to Lockhart which got me the tests so if you guys suck up to me then through the properties of chain suckyness it will be as if you both suck-up to Lockhart!" I said proudly.
Michael just looked at me trying to comprehend what I just said and Mandy, well, Mandy just punched me in the shoulder.
"Ow! OK fine I deserve that!" I said making an exaggerated motion on my shoulder.
"Mate, that was dumb and it made no sense." Michael said out loud what they were both thinking.
"Yea that was stupid." Mandy confirmed.
"Well stupid is what stupid does!" I said.
"What? Never mind it's from a movie."
"Come on, we have tests to review!" I said and skipped along ahead of them.
Mandy pulled Michael a bit to stay behind for a moment.
"You know, I worry about Darrow. Sometimes he's so absent minded, he comes and goes at odd hours, you can rarely find him when you want to and sometimes he just appears right behind you." She expressed her concern.
"Yea and he spends way too much time in the restricted section." Michael agrees shaking his head in disapproval.
Scene Break
The test did help my little group of Ravens as all of them aced it. Gryffindor won the cup once again, shocking everyone since the details were once again vague for the points awarded.
Once I was sure the Basilisk was slayed I went and harvested a few vials of venom, never know when it could come in hand. It was an ugly giant snake thing. I wasn't able to find any artifacts or books in the chamber just the giant dead basilisk, everything was probably cleared out by Voldemort when he opened it.
Overall not a bad year, I managed to advance my Occlumency, spent a shit load of time in the restricted section absorbing everything and anything I could get my hands on and improved my transfiguration and conjuration.
I gently rebuffed my friend's requests to meet up over the summer citing my need to train for the upcoming dueling completion and instead promised to write them about how it was.
Let's see if dueling is any fun.