Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and
which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise
owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is
implied on the author's part. Enjoy!
~~Chapter Four: Wanderings~~
Two days after, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class came up on Kevin's daily schedule. This particularly interested Kevin because he had not had that class or anything reminiscent of it at Ashallan. There, he had simply leaned useful spells in different classes. He assumed that Wizarding Self-protection was the most similar of Ashallan class to the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Just before the class began, Kevin remembered that Mad-Eye Moody would be teaching the class. He wondered what that might be like. The man was supposed to be practically insane. Why was he teaching? There must have been some great reason for Dumbledore to elect him. After all, didn't Prof. Snape want the job?
Two hours later, Kevin walked out of the class, amazed. Mad-Eye had demonstrated some very effective curses and their countercurses, and expected the students to do a large amount of work on the study of the spells and their counters. Kevin did not mind; this was one class that actually fascinated him. Or, was it actually that this class brushed so close to actually teaching Dark Magic? Kevin shook his head. That thought was ridiculous.
Kevin managed to make it through the other classes before lunch and then hurried over to the table. He ate his food quickly, and then hurried up to the Ravenclaw common room to start writing up on the spells he had been studying. One of them, the Confundus charm, would confuse a person as to what was going on around them for several minutes. Another nasty spell, the Conjunctivitis charm, would inflame the eye inner eye of the person you cast it at, and temporarily render vision impossible.
Another interesting spell that Mad-Eye had taught the class for self- defense was the Difindarma spell, which was intended to destroy or hurt the wand or weapon of an opponent. Kevin was surprised at how much Mad-Eye taught in one class. Were there enough curses in the world to fill a whole school year of classes?
Krysten was still muttering about how rude Mad-Eye was to go into the Conjunctivitis charm in so much detail. Kevin hadn't minded it in the classroom, but now that he thought of it, it was rather disgusting. He spent a few moments wondering what Mad-Eye might be teaching seventh years. Most likely countercurses to the kind of spells that one would find in the restricted section. Kevin grinned to himself, thinking of what it might be like to be a seventh year.
Krysten wasn't in the mood for talking. Kevin tried to start a conversation several times and she barely replied. He looked past her at Lyra, also uncomfortable because of Krysten's bad mood, but he couldn't imagine conversing with someone he barely knew while looking past the head of the person he knew best.
Turning to his other side, Kevin saw that Stewart Ackerley seemed to be talking to someone else. Kevin frowned moodily, took another bite of his food and swung his chair around. Evelyn sat right across from him, and surprisingly enough she wasn't talking to any of the other Slytherin students. Kevin shrugged. He almost spun his chair around again, but stopped. Maybe if he watched her he could find out who her friends were, the people who had been looking for what Kevin assumed was a book in the library.
Kevin was startled when Evelyn suddenly turned around in her seat. Her face was wearing a nasty glare directed right at him. Like she had known he was looking at her. Kevin gulped, and turned around back to the table.
"What is it?" Krysten asked moodily.
"Um... nothing. Slytherins. You know?"
Krysten rolled her eyes and muttered something about biased students. Kevin rolled his eyes.
Kevin played another game with Stewart and got beaten again that night. After Stewart went to bed, he began to feel restless again. He forced his head hard into his pillow and closed his eyes. He was not going to wander around again. Not tonight.
Two hours later, Kevin pulled himself out of bed, not the least bit sleepy. He cursed under his breath and went out to the common room to get a drink of water. After taking a few sips, he splashed his head into the magic basin, and then dried off with a towel. He was feeling more awake by the minute.
The tapestry sat there, coaxing him. What difference was there from in or out of the common room? He could slip back in any time. No one would know. He could even get some more studying done on Mad-Eye's spells. No one would even realize he hadn't gone right to sleep. No one.
Kevin cursed at his own weakness, and walked towards the tapestry. He could hear no noises behind it. Nothing at all. He stepped a bit closer, slid it aside the tiniest bit, and peeked out. No one was there; the passage was empty. It was filled with the scent of night, the wonderful feeling of being alone with hours to explore. Holding his wand in his hand, just in case, Kevin carefully slipped past the tapestry into the passage.
After taking two dead end hallways, Kevin finally took a corner he had not noticed before. It curved around several times, and, much to his surprise, ended right outside the main boy's bathrooms- which was nearly on the other side of the castle.
Kevin walked around randomly for a while, but something in his heart kept tugging at him. It was wonderful to be out, with no confines, but he wasn't getting that thrill, of doing something he wasn't ever supposed to do.
Finally, Kevin found himself heading towards the library. He didn't know why; it just attracted him unexplainably, like a magnet.
Kevin finally reached the library. He felt a nervous buzz inside of him, the thing he had truly been searching for. The thrill of breaking the rules. He slowly brushed past book by book. He had seen almost all of these at Ashallan, or even thicker tomes.
Finally, something caught his eye at the very bottom of one of the bookcases. It was a large tome that seemed to be bound with solid gold. After removing it carefully from the shelf, he found that it was not gold that bound it, but some less valuable material, like brass.
There was no title on the binding of the book. The cover, however, had a dragon engraved into it. He frowned yet again. He had never seen anything like this before.
Kevin's hands slowly ran across the cover, tracing out the figure of the dragon. It was in perfect detail, even the flames roaring out of the thing's mouth. Kevin carefully grasped the cover in his hand and pulled up.
It resisted.
Kevin frowned, confused. He tugged again. Something more than the weight of the large cover was keeping it there. But in the dim lighting of the library, even with his practiced night vision, he could not make out what it was. He gently placed the book in his pack, and got up. The weight of the book was instantly noticeable.
Although he felt like moving back towards his common room, something about the silence of the library made him stay. Maybe there were other things like that book. He had to find them, something told him. He always had to find things before others did. That was what he was good at.
Unfortunately, although he looked hard, Kevin could not find anything else that truly caught his eye. The book he had picked up seemed to be the only one like it in this part of the library. He sighed. Perhaps he could search more later.
~~Chapter Four: Wanderings~~
Two days after, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class came up on Kevin's daily schedule. This particularly interested Kevin because he had not had that class or anything reminiscent of it at Ashallan. There, he had simply leaned useful spells in different classes. He assumed that Wizarding Self-protection was the most similar of Ashallan class to the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Just before the class began, Kevin remembered that Mad-Eye Moody would be teaching the class. He wondered what that might be like. The man was supposed to be practically insane. Why was he teaching? There must have been some great reason for Dumbledore to elect him. After all, didn't Prof. Snape want the job?
Two hours later, Kevin walked out of the class, amazed. Mad-Eye had demonstrated some very effective curses and their countercurses, and expected the students to do a large amount of work on the study of the spells and their counters. Kevin did not mind; this was one class that actually fascinated him. Or, was it actually that this class brushed so close to actually teaching Dark Magic? Kevin shook his head. That thought was ridiculous.
Kevin managed to make it through the other classes before lunch and then hurried over to the table. He ate his food quickly, and then hurried up to the Ravenclaw common room to start writing up on the spells he had been studying. One of them, the Confundus charm, would confuse a person as to what was going on around them for several minutes. Another nasty spell, the Conjunctivitis charm, would inflame the eye inner eye of the person you cast it at, and temporarily render vision impossible.
Another interesting spell that Mad-Eye had taught the class for self- defense was the Difindarma spell, which was intended to destroy or hurt the wand or weapon of an opponent. Kevin was surprised at how much Mad-Eye taught in one class. Were there enough curses in the world to fill a whole school year of classes?
Krysten was still muttering about how rude Mad-Eye was to go into the Conjunctivitis charm in so much detail. Kevin hadn't minded it in the classroom, but now that he thought of it, it was rather disgusting. He spent a few moments wondering what Mad-Eye might be teaching seventh years. Most likely countercurses to the kind of spells that one would find in the restricted section. Kevin grinned to himself, thinking of what it might be like to be a seventh year.
Krysten wasn't in the mood for talking. Kevin tried to start a conversation several times and she barely replied. He looked past her at Lyra, also uncomfortable because of Krysten's bad mood, but he couldn't imagine conversing with someone he barely knew while looking past the head of the person he knew best.
Turning to his other side, Kevin saw that Stewart Ackerley seemed to be talking to someone else. Kevin frowned moodily, took another bite of his food and swung his chair around. Evelyn sat right across from him, and surprisingly enough she wasn't talking to any of the other Slytherin students. Kevin shrugged. He almost spun his chair around again, but stopped. Maybe if he watched her he could find out who her friends were, the people who had been looking for what Kevin assumed was a book in the library.
Kevin was startled when Evelyn suddenly turned around in her seat. Her face was wearing a nasty glare directed right at him. Like she had known he was looking at her. Kevin gulped, and turned around back to the table.
"What is it?" Krysten asked moodily.
"Um... nothing. Slytherins. You know?"
Krysten rolled her eyes and muttered something about biased students. Kevin rolled his eyes.
Kevin played another game with Stewart and got beaten again that night. After Stewart went to bed, he began to feel restless again. He forced his head hard into his pillow and closed his eyes. He was not going to wander around again. Not tonight.
Two hours later, Kevin pulled himself out of bed, not the least bit sleepy. He cursed under his breath and went out to the common room to get a drink of water. After taking a few sips, he splashed his head into the magic basin, and then dried off with a towel. He was feeling more awake by the minute.
The tapestry sat there, coaxing him. What difference was there from in or out of the common room? He could slip back in any time. No one would know. He could even get some more studying done on Mad-Eye's spells. No one would even realize he hadn't gone right to sleep. No one.
Kevin cursed at his own weakness, and walked towards the tapestry. He could hear no noises behind it. Nothing at all. He stepped a bit closer, slid it aside the tiniest bit, and peeked out. No one was there; the passage was empty. It was filled with the scent of night, the wonderful feeling of being alone with hours to explore. Holding his wand in his hand, just in case, Kevin carefully slipped past the tapestry into the passage.
After taking two dead end hallways, Kevin finally took a corner he had not noticed before. It curved around several times, and, much to his surprise, ended right outside the main boy's bathrooms- which was nearly on the other side of the castle.
Kevin walked around randomly for a while, but something in his heart kept tugging at him. It was wonderful to be out, with no confines, but he wasn't getting that thrill, of doing something he wasn't ever supposed to do.
Finally, Kevin found himself heading towards the library. He didn't know why; it just attracted him unexplainably, like a magnet.
Kevin finally reached the library. He felt a nervous buzz inside of him, the thing he had truly been searching for. The thrill of breaking the rules. He slowly brushed past book by book. He had seen almost all of these at Ashallan, or even thicker tomes.
Finally, something caught his eye at the very bottom of one of the bookcases. It was a large tome that seemed to be bound with solid gold. After removing it carefully from the shelf, he found that it was not gold that bound it, but some less valuable material, like brass.
There was no title on the binding of the book. The cover, however, had a dragon engraved into it. He frowned yet again. He had never seen anything like this before.
Kevin's hands slowly ran across the cover, tracing out the figure of the dragon. It was in perfect detail, even the flames roaring out of the thing's mouth. Kevin carefully grasped the cover in his hand and pulled up.
It resisted.
Kevin frowned, confused. He tugged again. Something more than the weight of the large cover was keeping it there. But in the dim lighting of the library, even with his practiced night vision, he could not make out what it was. He gently placed the book in his pack, and got up. The weight of the book was instantly noticeable.
Although he felt like moving back towards his common room, something about the silence of the library made him stay. Maybe there were other things like that book. He had to find them, something told him. He always had to find things before others did. That was what he was good at.
Unfortunately, although he looked hard, Kevin could not find anything else that truly caught his eye. The book he had picked up seemed to be the only one like it in this part of the library. He sighed. Perhaps he could search more later.