Monday, December 16
"Alright Rin!" Quirrell exclaims upon us entering the Lost and Found Room. "The plan is to explore the Room of Requirement and gather as many different and interesting items we can find. Afterwards, we'll work on your Dueling ability, can't have any apprentice of mine unable to handle herself when things get difficult." He says excitedly.
Something tells me I'm going to hate everything about this expedition.
Quirrell opens the door to the Lost and Found Room, revealing its slightly more barren appearance to me. The piles of junk definitely lower and not as cluttered. Seems the Professors have been sorting stuff out closer to the doorway as they further move outwards.
"Now keep your eyes peeled Rin. If you see something interesting then tell me immediately, especially if its Dark seeming." He adds on as we delve inside.
As we go further inside, passing piles of furniture that seem to have been fashioned into a break area, we finally begin to find the more interesting piles. Bookcases of many different books, trunks of random items, wardrobes of clothing, and many more things to begin routing through.
"I, guess I'll start with the books Professor?" I ask Quirrell, already making my way over to them in the hope he'd not suspect anything.
"Mmm... I'll join you at it Rin, wouldn't want you to find anything you harmful to you now~" He mentions as he follows along.
Damn. Was wishful thinking but he isn't gonna be fooled that easily.
"Thats fine sir. Just hoping I can find something to help me grow quicker." Saying quietly, already looking over the titles of each book and some of these books are weird.
Metamorphosis: Transfiguration for Beginners by Author Unknown
Advanced Quidditch Strategies by Luke Johnson
The Dueler's Handbook by Professor Penrose
Basics of Alchemy by Mallory Harris
Jokes for all the Ages by Brendan Ly
A couple of those are definitely useful, but otherwise I don't think I'm gonna be using them much at the moment.
Until...
[Skill Book: Magic Jamming]
[Magic Jamming: Rank Troll(T): Active Skill: When active, magic will be weakened by 5%. This affects all magic within a 10 meter area]
Before I even have the time to consciously think it, I hit the Accept on learning this Skill. The information rapidly filling my head before activating it, hoping that it'll work.
Quirrell stills at this next to me, turning and looking at me with a quizzical look on his face. "Well Rin~ I suppose thats something to do with your 'Game'? Interesting. I suppose that will make things more interesting eh?" He asks rhetorically, his eyes boring into me, an intensity I hadn't seen before in them.
Swallowing nervously for a moment, I then answer. "I... figured it'd be a useful Skill is all. Do you want me to tell you next time Professor?" Asking quietly, trying to desperately not give away anything he might be able to use against me.
Quirrell merely looks at me for a moment, before finally answering. "No. Merely inform me of what it is next time. I wish to focus more intently on the process of you absorbing those books." He says ominously.
Guess he wants to figure out if he can do the same thing somehow.
"Understood sir." I answer, going back to examining the other books, somewhat trepidatiously.
Examining the other books I don't find anything else particularly useful. A couple of notebooks from previous students that can probably be used to prepare for future years but otherwise nothing special.
"Hmm, seems to not be anything else of use over here Rin. Lets check through the other random objects and see what we can find." Says Quirrell, gesturing for me to come with him over to one of the piles of junk. "You'll begin going through this pile, let me know if anything useful is found. I'll be going through the pile over here." He says as he wonders slightly off to the side to start on another pile.
As he wonders off I get to work on my pile, being sure to keep my Magic Jamming up just in case he tries anything.
I open up a trunk near the front of the pile I'm working on, only to be greeted by dust cloud coming out at me.
"Blehg cough!" I sputter and cough, waving my hand through the cloud of dust while turning away. Only looking back inside once it clears up.
"God this stuff must be old." Muttering to myself as I peer into the trunk. Reaching inside I grab ahold of the bundle of clothes, hauling them up and out and dropping them to the ground next to me. "Now was there anything buried under those?"
I resume looking through the trunk and find nothing. Looks like the clothes were all that were kept in this one.
I meander around for a bit, tossing back some more clothes, some broomsticks that don't seem to be working, and more random furniture like chairs out of the way.
I do find a potion though, which Structural Analysis told me was something very special.
[Strength Potion]
[When drunk, grants a permanent 10 to Strength. Can only be drunk once every 7 days]
I gladly down it while I'm buried in the junk pile, making sure Quirrell can't see me doing so.
[Rin Fraener the Gamer]
[Level: 147]
[Gender: Female]
[HP: 2880 Base: 2000]
[SP: 1840 Base: 1000]
[MP: 4224 Base: 3000]
[Str: 115(130)]
[End: 105(125)]
[Dex: 105(115)]
[Int: 306(326)]
[Wis: 305(330)]
[Luc: 35]
[Cha: 200]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Level Points: 15]
[Perks: 30]
[Flaws: 3]
There we go, that's better then nothing. Hopefully I can find some more of these things to raise them even more.
Oh and speaking of Structural Analysis. With how much I've been using on random things around the castle, its ranked up quite a bit.
[Structural Analysis: Rank Poor(P): Active Skill: Allows for understanding of an objects structure, and design by touching the object. Can be used to identify what an object is]
Should be pretty close to ranking up again here pretty soon.
Moving on to the next bit of the pile, I open up a cabinet nearby.
"Holy... shit..."
The shelves on the inside of the cabinet are filled with wands. Every spare inch of the shelves having a wand laying there with a label displaying what its specs are.
9 3/4 inches, Holly wood, Unicorn Hair
13 4/5 inches, Cherry wood, Unicorn Hair
7 inches, Ash wood, Thunderbird Feather
8 1/2 inches, Ivy Wood, Thestral Hair
11 inches, Ash wood, Horned Serpent Horn
9 inches, Willow wood, Dragon Heartstring
And so on and so forth. So many wands that I can't imagine how they could've gotten here, especially who would've been labeling them with how deep they are in here.
At seeing all of these I take out my own wand, looking at it for a moment. "I wonder... what would I get for Analyzing this..?" I activate Structural Analysis on my wand, the information appearing in front of me.
[Rin's Wand]
[Length: 9 1/2 Inches]
[Wand Wood: Aspen]
[Effects: Wielders Charm effectiveness is improved by 50%. When Dueling, all Spells are improved by 30%]
[Wand Core: Dragon Heartstring]
[Effects: Wielder will learn Spells 40% faster. All Dark Spells are 20% more effective]
That actually explains quite a bit. Especially why my Charms have been typically the easiest for me to learn and use. I wonder what all of these other wands abilities are. And geez, those buffs given by the wand are incredible. Its no wonder so many witches and wizards use wands if thats what they do to ya.
Leaning down, I open a bottom drawer in the cabinet, only to be greeted by even more labeled items. This time though, they're much more dangerous and freakish.
A jar with a perfectly preserved heart in it, labeled as a Unicorn's heart.
A jar of Floo powder.
A Delluminator.
A pile of stones with different symbols on them, the label saying they're runestones.
And worst of all, multiple keys, similar to the ones used by the goblins back at Gringotts. Who knows how these could've gotten here, or why.
As I'm going over these different things, I can't help but wonder, who could be doing this?
"Oooh~? And what have you found here Rin?" Quirrell says from suddenly behind me, causing me to jump out of the way in surprise. "Oh... did I startle you? My apologies dear."
Swallowing nervously I merely answer. "I-its all right Professor. And its a... cabinet full of wands sir. A-and other stuff... Seems someone has been collecting them for awhile." I explain, pointing out the labels of each wand and item for him to see.
"Hmm, very interesting. There have been students over the years complaining that their wands and other objects have gone missing or were stolen, but its never been taken particularly seriously. As I'm sure you can imagine Rin, most of us Professors just believed it to be irresponsible idiots misplacing their things as usual. I suppose that wasn't necessarily the case this entire time."
"But... why would they be labeled Professor?" I ask, not sure where he's going with this. "Someone has to have been labeling the wands in here. Otherwise there'd have to be some kind of enchantment on the cabinet doing it, and I can't sense anything of the sort."
Quirrell hums in thought for a moment, his hand stroking his chin as he contemplates whats going on. "I do agree with you dear. But I suppose you weren't the only one to find this place." He looks at me intently for a moment, his eyes and mouth widening.
"Maybe its somebody else with a 'Game' like yours? I also don't think it'd be to difficult for somebody skilled enough to live in here for extended periods of time, assuming they could get out long enough to get ahold of food of course." He begins saying, explaining that somebody with a similar Gamer ability might be able to develop Skills to hide and survive inside this room.
"And if we follow that logic, then I suppose that they could have been trying to organize the things in here as well." As Quirrell is explaining this all, I begin looking around, peering at the multitude of things around us.
As Quirrell continues muttering to himself about the possibilities of who or what could be in here, a screen appears in front of me.
[Quest Alert]
[Quest: Someone is hiding in the Lost and Found Room. Find and capture them and figure out who it is before they escape]
[Secret Objective: ?]
[Quest Reward: 50,000 EXP, 1 Gacha Coin]
[Secret Reward: ?]
[Quest Failure: High Probability of being trapped in the Lost and Found Room]
[Accept/Decline]
[Quest Accepted]
Eh? I didn't even hit Accept for that.
BOOOOOOM!!!
As I'm thinking that, an explosion sounds from a few junk piles away. The sound, and heat erupting out and knocking me over with a yell.
"Gahh!" I let out a yelp as I fall over, landing on my hands and knees. Barely managing to hold myself together while also trying to look over at Quirrell.
"Tch! What now?!" He barks out, waving his wand out and stabilizing himself.
"Professor! Theres somebody else in here! We need to get them before they escape the Room!" I say from next to him.
"Well~ I guess we'll just have to catch them then!" A surprised but welcome smile appearing on Quirrell's face as he says this. Springing into action as he races back towards the entrance with a speed I don't think I ever would've bet he had.
Forcing myself up to my feet as well I quickly make my way after him, only just barely hearing him shouting some spell that I can't decipher.
"Crap! I can't catch up like this." As I say this I stop running and instead look towards the top of a junk pile. "Teleport!" Teleporting myself up to the top of it just barely managing to hold on.
Bzzzt!
"Ok. Now to look as close to the door as I can!" Using Barbatos' Vision, I can see the door clearly. Looks like Quirrell and the intruder haven't gotten there yet.
Using a quick second to perform some mental math, I calculate how far I am and how much MP I'm gonna need for Teleport to take me there using Barbatos' Vision.
"Should be enough with plenty to spare to fight back. Teleport!" Shouting the word as I focus on my destination.
Bzzzt!
The large distance I'm traveling causing a bit of disorientation as I suddenly appear just in front of the doorway. Bracing myself against the doors frame before turning around, awaiting Quirrell and this mystery intruders appearance.
"Stupefy!" I hear Quirrell's voice come from nearby, his spell flying wide as if batted away. Him and the intruder both rounding the corner of a couple junk piles and quickly making their way towards me, the intruder having a cloak on that keeps their face hidden.
Quickly I begin setting Magic Arrows to fire forwards using Alarm at an interval of 3 seconds. Five arrows spinning around me now as I wave my arm forward, pushing my magic into my hand as I make a sweeping motion. "Acid!" Spraying a much larger deluge of acid across the area in front of me, making it much more difficult for this person to cross.
Just as I finish doing this the intruder makes it to the other side of the acid, only to just as quickly turn off to the side, to run along the acid.
"Tch!" Pulling out my wand as my Magic Arrows begin firing off in front of me towards where the intruder is, I then shout out. "Diffindo!"
My spell going wide in the direction they were moving, causing them to slow down. One of the Magic Arrows nicking their leg making them stumble, a shout from Quirrell further back joining in.
"Petrificus Totalus!" His spell hitting them square in the back, their entire body stiffening up and falling fully onto their fronts with a shout.
Quirrell lets out a hurrah as he approaches the downed figure. "Well well, you weren't able to make it out of here now could you?" He asks rhetorically.
"Wh... what now Professor?" I ask, gathering my breath, having exerted myself a bit more then I was expecting. Looking at this now petrified person on the ground, wondering who it is.
"Hmm, well Miss Fraener, we'll first need to figure out who this is." Quirrell says as he approaches the person.
He leans down and flips the person over onto their back, causing their hood to come down as well, revealing their face.
"Oh~? Well I wasn't expecting it to be you Mr. Taylor. I suppose this is where you've been hiding all year? Certainly a genius thing to do." Quirrell says to the downed person.
Standing further back behind them, I'm unable to see the guys face, but I don't recognize the name so I assume its someone who didn't get mentioned in canon. "Uh Professor? Do you know who they are?" I ask just in case.
Quirrell turns back to me, gesturing towards the Mr. Taylor. "Oh yes. Rin, this is Teddy Taylor, a seventh year Hufflepuff who was being investigated for using the Cruciatus and Imperious Curses on lower year students. He went missing back in October when we went to capture him to hand him to the Aurors. We hadn't been able to find any traces of him since then so assumed he got out to Hogsmeade somehow. Seems he found this room instead though and was using it as a hidey hole." Quirrell explains, conjuring ropes around the guys arms and legs, while simultaneously undoing the petrification.
[Quest Cleared!]
[Quest Reward: 50,000 EXP, 1 Gacha Coin]
[Secret Objective: Learn who he's working for] [Failed]
[Secret Reward: 1 Free Perk]
[Level Up! x 3]
[15 Stat Points gained]
[1 Gacha Coin obtained]
"Uuurrrggh..." This Teddy guy groans out as he lays on the ground, completely bound by rope before managing to look at me and Quirrell. "Goddamn it! So close!" He spits out, glaring at me in particular.
"Now now Mr. Taylor~ don't be blaming my Apprentice here for your lack of ability. She did well in holding you up long enough for me to catch up, nothing more, nothing less. There is some room for improvement though Miss Fraener." He says at the end. Just had to get that in did ya?
"But now, the real question is, what were you doing in here Mr. Taylor? Especially with the wands, that kind of organization isn't something you'd ever shown ability or interest in." Quirrell questions the guy.
Teddy merely grins at Quirrell's question, looking between us for a moment before answering. "Ha! You wouldn't understand Professor! Our work is much more important than anything you can imagine!" He spits out at us, a look of righteousness on his face before something unexpected happens.
A shrill and high-pitched sound coming from his for a moment, his face taking a more feared look as goes pale. "N-no I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sir! Please!" He seemingly pleads to someone.
Fwoosh!
Suddenly he bursts into flames, letting out a scream as he burns alive.
"Aaah!" I let out a gasp at this, jumping backwards and stumbling onto my butt on the floor.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH! PLEASE!" He pleads and begs as his body quickly burns, the ropes binding him falling away at the same time as his body begins breaking down.
"Professor! Help him!" I turn to Quirrell, asking for him to cast something to assist.
Thats not going to happen though. As I look at Quirrell, I can see something I didn't expect.
Quirrell's face, paler then anything else in the room, both seemingly nervous but resolute at the same time as we watch Teddy burn to ashes, his screams having ended just before. All thats left, a small pile of ashes, quickly dispersing as well.
"P-professor?" I ask, startled by his appearance and inaction.
Quirrell turns and looks at me, color slowly flowing back to his face as he takes a breath. "Miss Fraener. You didn't see any of this. You weren't here today, and never heard the name of Teddy Taylor. Are we clear?" He asks, already moving towards whats left of Teddy, a small vial in his hand that he uses to scrape the ashes inside of.
"That'll be all for today Miss Fraener. I wish we could've gotten more practice in for you but these matters are much more important. Go back to your dorms and rest, take the next two days off from practice with me. I'm going to get this to the Headmaster and explain what happened." He explains to me as he stands back up and ushers me out of the Room.
As we stand in the hallway and begin to make our separate ways, I can't help but ask one last question. "Professor, did you... did you have anything to do with that?" Asking with a slight worry in my voice.
Quirrell looks at me with some look I can't describe, before answering after a second. "No. I may be a horrible man, one that practices the Dark Arts, but I did not kill that young man. Whoever it was though, well, they must be incredibly powerful. To have burned him alive like that without me noticing." He turns and begins heading towards the Headmaster's office.
"Be careful Rin. And don't trust anybody you don't already know."
[Rin Fraener the Gamer]
[Level: 150]
[Gender: Female]
[HP: 2880 Base: 2000]
[SP: 1840 Base: 1000]
[MP: 4224 Base: 3000]
[Str: 115(130)]
[End: 105(125)]
[Dex: 105(115)]
[Int: 306(326)]
[Wis: 305(330)]
[Luc: 35]
[Cha: 200]
[Stat Points: 15]
[Level Points: 24]
[Perks: 30]
[Flaws: 3]
Welcome one and all~! That was fun wasn't it? A lot of things I'm sure none of you were expecting. I mean, somebody else in the Lost and Found Room? Having lived there with the Diadem Horcrux active at the same time? And he seems to be working for somebody? Lots of questions I'm sure, which we'll hopefully be able to answer soon.
Any questions, comments, concerns? Let me know in a review or pm~!
Boy oh boy, things just keep getting better and better don't they?
First off, Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yugioh, has unfortunately passed away. Sad times and I wish the best for his friends and family right now.
Then of course, I'd like to address Ms. Sheogorath (I assume this is Dark Souls correct?) since they haven't actually looked at any maps on what states are against abortions.
Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Arizona, South Dakota, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia have all fully banned, or very close to it, all abortions.
Idaho, Wyoming, and North Dakota, are all in the process of banning all abortions.
Georgia, Indiana, and Iowa are each also highly likely to ban all abortions.
Now there are a couple of very minute exceptions for allowing abortion for a couple of states. Well, I say a couple, but its really only if the mothers life is in absolute danger from giving birth. Otherwise abortion is fully banned, not accounting for rapes, incest, or if the baby won't survive being born.
I'd also like to ask that if all of this is about returning power to the state governments, then if the Supreme Court ruled that slavery was something each individual state should decide, would you be ok with that?
How about if they ruled that all men should be sterilized till they can show they are financially and mentally stable enough for having children themselves?
What if they ruled that every state should decide if same-sex relations are legal or not? Would you be alright with that?
By the way, these are all quite simple yes or no questions. If help is required please ask someone nearby to read this out to you in a slower voice.
If you answered yes to any of those then I do so sincerely apologize, but you don't want "sTaTes RiGhTs", you want absolute control to tell other people what they can and can't do with others in a private setting, to their own bodies when it doesn't affect anyone but themselves, and make yourself feel better because you don't have the live you dreamed of, and by golly, you gotta drag everyone else down with you or else that must mean you're a failure.
If you would like to continue further conversation, feel free to make an account and shoot a pm on over to me, otherwise continue being a coward that hides away. I'm sure thats what you'll choose though~