Over the next week, Hermione joined Dudley and Harry in learning the Deleriate spell from the Mischief school of magic. Quite frankly, Hermione is amazed at just how much math is involved in the spell, as L goes into how each aspect of what they're learning affects the finished spell. Much to her dismay, as she's usually the guineapig. The worst one was when she fine tuned it so that she couldn't remember how to read for 15 minutes. Despite that, she managed to get to know L a bit better and respect her for her knowledge, if not her methods. In fact, in their own ways, each of the three sages challenged her assumptions on authority figures and how they behave.
One evening before she went home she approached Simeon, "Simeon, do you have time to chat for a minute?"
"Yes Hermione, what's the matter?"
"You and the other two are all sages of your respective schools of magic. However, you don't behave anything like my teachers, Mum and Dad's Dentist and Doctor friends, or any of the people I've met at functions with them. I don't understand."
"Ah, you have just run into the difference between someone that's highly skilled in their field, and someone that's profession and knowledgeable about politics. I don't mean the politics about governing countries, I mean the politics of presenting yourself in the most favourable light for others to see. You don't see that with the three of us because the one and only way to get our jobs is by being exceedingly good at each school of magic. We've all looked through some of the books I bought in your world, and their understanding of magic is, quite frankly, underwhelming.
"If you visited other parts of our world, you'd find exactly the same personalities as you've already met. This is because their jobs and careers rely as much on how they present themselves as they do on what they know. This is probably even more important in schools, where some teachers will feel that if they don't come across as infallible, then their students won't respect them. If you cultivate a friendship with L, and get her talking on the subject of trolling or pranks, you'll be able to learn a lot about how to read people to find out their true intentions. Why L? Because knowing how to successfully prank people, or troll forums, is a skill and artform that requires knowing how people will react. Same with Comedy. I know that as a bookworm, Genius and adventurous person you probably can't think of anything more boring than learning how to talk to and understand other people. But it really is a skill that will help you going forward. If you had the interface, then it would be the Charisma skill you'd need to do it, though Mischief and Comedy would both allow you to read it, even if you couldn't do it."
"But why are people like that?"
"Why do people lie?"
"To get something or hide something." Hermione replies promptly.
"Very good. Now consider that most politics no matter what the level involves lying in some way."
Hermione frowns as she mulls it over, "I don't like it. Why be like that?"
"As said by millions of genius' over the years. You don't need to understand it, just accept that it's true. In many ways, the interface makes high society politics much harder, as anyone can work out your three or four most prominent traits. And if you know the sorts of people that get the fourth trait, you can usually take a good stab at what their motivations are and how to approach them. I've just told you your three most prominent traits, two of which you share with Harry. Mine are Gloomy, Snob, and Geek. Think about that at some point. But for now it's time for you to get home."
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Over the next couple of weeks before school, all three sages took turns in tutoring them in dueling with magic. A practice that it turns out just uses basic manipulations of magic compared to actually casting the spells. Morgyn at one point confesses that if they'd used the interface to learn spells, then they'd be as basic as dueling techniques they're learning. They do go through the maths and science behind each of the techniques, and how the magic needs to be shaped. But compared to the fine net needed to daze someone without scrambling their brain, these techniques are indeed simple.
In her spare time, Hermione takes those teachings and cobbles together a spell that will turn someone pink and make them smell of roses for a couple of hours. After testing it on some benches and flowers, she sneaks a cast of it on L.
Sitting around in her underwear, for the rest of the day, listening to L lecture her on everything that was wrong with the spell. Even being told how it could have ended up being permanent because she didn't specify that it should only be a surface level spell, didn't dampen her feeling of vindication. As, she'd finally managed to get L back for making her sit around naked so much over the last month.
When the lecture finished off with, "If you can include all of the required math and document the spell properly so that it can do more than just make someone look pink and smell of roses, I'll be happy to include it in my school of magic. It would be nice to have a simpler spell than Strangify for pranks."
"What does Strangify do?"
"In laymans terms it rewrites someone's DNA temporarily and applies the change to their body in such away that they take on a repulsive appearance. With all the checks built into the spell, leaving it undirected is perfectly safe, as it ensures that the person is still humanoid, doesn't touch their brain or retina's and leaves their other vital organs untouched. I'm almost at the point where I can change someone's gender and leave them looking like the person they'd have grown up as in that gender. It's the signature spell of my school, and I only teach it to people personally."
Hermione gapes, "How can you keep all of the details straight for that?"
"Oh, the spell's simple enough. Much like I'd imagine that you find Deleriate simple enough to cast now you know it. What sets sages apart from the rest of the population of spellcasters is the amount of time we've spent in not only studying our spells, but also in studying the areas around them. I'm probably better versed in the human body and brain than most doctors and surgeons. I'm certainly a better judge of people than most politicians. To the point where I've been manipulating you during this entire conversation. I've been taking advantage of the way your bookworm and genius traits have combined with your adventurous trait to push you into searching for new knowledge. I'm sure that even though I've just informed you of this, you still want to complete that spell tome so that I add it to my school of magic. You will almost certainly want to master the school or practical magic, as, with the possible exception of Herbio, every single spell in that line will make it easier for you to learn magic. From Scruberoo and Repairio, that deal with the minor annoyances in life, to Transportilate and Homewardial, the first is instant transportation anywhere, and the second is learning to use the first to duplicate the function of a Glimmerstone. Oh, and I do mean anywhere. I tried it when Harry asked me to give Minerva the supermops he bought. Oh, that was so much fun."
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L knocks on the door to the Glimmerstone Dursley house. It doesn't take long for Harry to open the door.
"Good morning, is Dudley in?"
"Sorry he's in Little Whinging showing Gemma around the town with his pocket money. Is there anything you wanted."
"Not really, I was just going to see if he wanted to troll forums with me."
"No worries, I've been getting into painting as he takes up so much time on the computer. Oh, you've been to Hogwarts haven't you?"
"I have."
"I overheard a student in Madam Malkins complaining about the school brooms being death traps. As I don't fancy trying to ride a death trap I bought a score of supermops when they came up in the store. I figure that they should be sedate enough for even the most nervous rider to learn on. Would you be able to take them there?"
L pauses before she rejects the request out of hand. It would give her an excuse to mess with Minerva again. Smiling she responds, "Sure, if you give them to me I'll ensure that Minerva gets them and also knows how to use them."
After going through the rigmarole of transferring items between non-household inventories, L bids Harry adieu and uses the interface to travel directly to Hogwarts using transportilate. Somewhat surprised that it actually worked as she lands outside the main doors of the school. Walking forwards she's pleased to see that the door opens to her touch, indicating that the school is considered a public place by the interface. Smiling a little evilly, she brings up the build interface to see if it has given her an unlimited budget, like it does with other public locations. Seeing that it has, she buys a winter wall speaker and mounts it behind one of the gargoyles just inside the doors. Once it's in place she sets it to the spooky radio station and continues walking into the school looking for Minerva. Everywhere she goes that counts as public property she makes minor adjustments, such as changing the lighting to auto, or changing the shade of the floor slightly. Finding out that there is an access list on the doors to the great hall, she adds Albus and Severus to the denied list. Then adds random other teachers to the other doors.
When she sees that Severus is still on the list of people that are permanently here, she frowns, and starts excluding him from every single room she comes across. Nobody that hates children should ever work in a school. It's while she's making an adjustment to one of the doors that Filtch runs into her.
"'Ere, what are you doing here?"
"I'm L Faba, pleased to meet you. Would you happen to know where Minerva McGonagall is, as I have a delivery to make."
"Argus Filtch, and you still haven't answered my question."
Hmm, Hates Children, Mean, and Jealous, probably another one that shouldn't be working in a school, "I did indeed tell you what I was doing here. I'm looking for Minerva, as I have a delivery to make to her."
"Yeah, she's in her office dealing with paperwork."
"Oh dear, she really shouldn't be cooped up inside on such a fine day. Would you be able to direct me to her office please?"
As she's lead up to Minerva's office, she is treated to a running commentary about how children are allowed to get away with everything these days. He goes into lurid descriptions of what he'd like to do to said children, ranging from thumbscrews to cat-o-nine-tails. As such she feels absolutely zero guilt for adding his name to every single door she comes across, every door in the great hall, and the main entrance. She even finds out that the main stairs have an access list, and adds him to that too, once she's not longer on them of course. This must be what Mayors feel like in their towns.
It doesn't take long to reach Minerva's office with someone to show her the way, more's the pity. She knocks on the door, quite loudly, and waits for a response before opening it.
"Good afternoon Minerva. How's your day going?"
"Terrible, Albus has gone hunting for a new potions teacher after Severus quit a few weeks ago. Coincidently the same day that you visited last time as it happens. As such he's left me with the job of balancing the budget to include an onsite potions master to assist Madam Pomphrey, our medi-witch. As well as a new potions teacher. I also need to find a new Head of Slytherin, which is harder than it appears, as school policy is that only alumni of a house can head the house, and they're supposed to have 5 years teaching experience before being promoted. It's the only reason I'm still head of Gryffindor as, apart from albus, we don't have any other gryffindors on staff."
"Is there no body on staff that used to be a Gryffindor apart from the two of you?"
"There's Rolanda Hooch."
"Does she teach?"
"Only two weeks of the year, flying to students."
"Well, it's still teaching isn't it."
"Has she been here long?"
"Oh, yes, apart from albus, she's the longest serving staff member."
"Well, there you go. She fulfils all of the rules as written."
"It's hardly the right thing to do."
"Is it more right than you doing three jobs, two of which are pretty much fulltime already."
"But."
"Look, I know that Gryffindor must be like your family. However, all parents know that sometimes the best thing they can do is let someone else do the job. That's why the children are coming to school after all. So, if you really care about the students you'll make the best decision you can for them."
"Look, why don't we go and find her and talk to her about it. I've also got a gift from Harry that is probably appropriate to have her present for anyway."
"Oh?"
"Yes, while you were all shopping in Diagon Alley, he overheard some students complaining that the school brooms are death traps, so he decided to buy a score of new brooms. They're only cheap ones, but they're serviceable."
"Very well, if they are suitable, they'll at least solve one of my problems with the school budget."
Minerva leads L down through the school by a different route than before, finally reaching an office by the outer wall. Through the journey L continues to add Filch to every door, and Severus to every door that seems to lead to a room. She also bars Albus from the odd corridor or stairwell that ends in a door, as her opinion of the man is going down every time she meets Minerva.
Minerva knocks on the door, and after a few moments opens it slightly and looks inside, "Looks like she's not here. She's probably in the broom shed doing maintenance on the old brooms. We're lucky she's on staff really, as pretty much any younger instructor wouldn't be able to perform the miracles that she has with the brooms over the decades she's been here."
From there they take a detour through the hospital wing, which she bars Albus, Severus, and filch from, they use the side door onto the grounds to get access to the Quidditch Stadium, Broom locker, and team changing rooms. Rolanda Hooch is indeed hard at work in the broom locker, she currently has an engraving tool out and is refreshing some of the runes on the broomstick she's currently working on.
Minerva waits until she lifts her hand before coughing politely, "Rolanda, I'd like to introduce you to L, L Rolanda. I'm sorry L, I don't actually know your full name."
"Oh, sorry. I'm L Faba, Sage of Mischief Magic. Please to make your acquaintance."
"Rolanda Hooch, ex-quidditch player, flying instructor, and quidditch coach. Most people call me Madam Hooch."
Hmm, Active, Self-Assured, and Loves Outdoors; fairly obvious why she's a quidditch instructor then.
"I hope you don't mind, but I'd rather avoid that, as then you'd be calling me Sage of Mischief, and I got bored of that a month after earning the title."
"Ah." Rolanda pauses, "At least that's a better reason than Dumbledore has for using everyone's first names. So what brings you down to my area of the castle today?"
L takes out a supermop, puts some magic into it and sits on it side saddle, "I have a donation of new brooms for the school courtesy of Harry. He heard that the school brooms are death traps so decided to replace them with cheap but functional alternatives. I present to you the Supermop. Not only can it be used to clean floors, it will also allow you to do your shopping too. Replacement sponges can be bought at most decent supermarkets."
Rolanda looks at her skeptically, "You're one of those witches that's learnt to fly on their own aren't you."
"No really, this is a genuine flying broom. Enchanted and everything. Though it might work a little differently to the brooms you're used to. Here's one for each of you. Harry bought a score of them, and I'm sure that more can be bought if needed."
Rolanda takes hold of the broom and puts it on the ground, "UP!" she says in a commanding voice. The broom doesn't move.
"Ah, I'm glad I decided to stick around rather than just dump them in Minerva's office. Our brooms are designed for the average person to use as a personal transport device. This means that very few of them will have any formal training, they'll just run to the shop and buy one that catches their eye. As such they will not work unless you push some magic into them. Once you do, you can't let go of the broom unless your feet are on the ground or another solid surface. So no dismounting on a lake or river. They also work on focus and intent, so you can just think of where you want to go and the broom will fly you there. On that subject, is there anywhere we can get a drink after this, and maybe something to eat."
Minerva nods, "There's the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. They do good food and also serve a few drinks. Mostly alcoholic."
"What's alcoholic?"
"Has alcohol in it?"
"Never heard of it."
"Do you not have any alcoholic beverages on your world?"
"Nope, it's probably something like the profanity filter that the interface forces on everyone. Anyway, why don't we go there and get some food and drink. What sort of food do they do there?"
"She has a meat stew that is to die for, and goes brilliantly with butterbeer."
"That sounds really nice." – As she sees that Minerva is looking slightly distracted by the idea of food and a drink she gets back on subject, hiding a smile at the fact she's still distracted – "Anyway, back to brooms. The focus and intent trigger can be more than a little hair trigger, so the trick is to learn to mount the broom properly first. So if you both hold the broom like this near the top and push a little magic into it. When you're ready, put your leg over the broom and slide back towards the base, you'll find a seat there now. Oh I could really do with that meat stew."
As expected Minerva goes shooting off to the pub, while slightly disappointingly Rolanda stays on the ground. She is laughing though.
"Oh well done, I've been got a time or two like that with an unfamiliar broom. But it's nice to see that you were right about not being able to let go. Why don't you finish your instructions and we'll go and find her."
L laughs, "Sure. Once seated, lift your legs and find the stirrups. Only once both feet are in place and your hands are in the right position do you focus on where you want to go. If you're in a hurry, or distracted it's very easy to get this wrong."
Rolanda carefully mounts the broom as described and is shooting off safely to the Three Broomsticks with a joyful yell and a trail of suds. L follows behind her as she has no idea where the Three Broomsticks is.
When they land beside a disgruntled Minerva, who's still in the process of dusting herself off from her encounter with the ground, L adds, "Oh, yeah, while I remember the more magic you push into the broom the faster it will go. These will top out at slightly faster than a car, while other brooms will go somewhat faster. My personal broom is made with magical crystals, and will take as much magic as I can feed into it without reaching it's limit."
You have found a new area, Hogsmeade has been added to Manage Worlds
"Oh, that's interesting. Anyway, let's get something to eat, and then we can fly back to the Quidditch Pitch and I can give you the rest of the brooms."
Once they're sat down Minerva growls at L, "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"Making me fly off here."
"I believe that I warned you multiple times that the broom uses focus and intent to go places, I even pointed out that it was a bit of a hair trigger."
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"Oh, yeah, that was a good day." L says dreamily.
"Anyway, back on topic. It's like learning any subject. When you start it takes a lot of concentration to even perform the most basic things. With the Deleriate spell, do you think you could reduce the level of the effect it has?"
Hermione frowns, "I think so, though I think I'd need to make some notes first."
"Exactly, as you understand this school of magic better you'll stop needing to make notes about the spells in order to make changes. Instead make them on the fly. You'll probably find that you've learnt all the spells in each school well before you even reach that point though, as learning magic is a life-long commitment."
"I will, thank you."
"You're most welcome, and were definitely worth the effort of breaking that blind trust in authority figures being right. Anyway, you've got a train to catch tomorrow, so scoot."
"Wait, you didn't tell me if Rolanda is the new head of Gryffindor."
"Well you'll find out tomorrow then won't you."
"Aww." Regardless Hermione runs off, and detours to Casters Alley to see if they have any new familiars.
"Oh. Hello again. Do you actually have any money this time?"
"We haven't worked out how to get simolians, however, I did buy the 10 ten singles in the music charts back home." She takes out 10 cd's from her book bag.
"Hmm, I'll provisionally give you 300 credit. If I can sell them for more then I'll add it to your tab."
"Oh. Thank you, that is much appreciated."
With that he brings out his wares, A dragon, Hex Doll, and Snub-nosed Bat familiar orbs; stage magicians, astral, and wooden wands; and a tomes of Homewardial, Inferniate, and Transportial.
Hermione stares at the dragon familiar orb. She loves Theresa, she really does, but a Dragon. What child hasn't wanted to meet a dragon? She stares at the shop keeper with tearful eyes, "I'd really like to be able to buy both the dragon and the Inferniate tome, but I don't have enough credit. Is there anything you can do to let me have both?"
The shop keeper mutters, "Blinking Hagglers." Before saying more loudly, "Go on then take them, and I'll take the extra 10 off your tab if your CD's are worth more money."
Cheering Hermione stuffs the tome in her bag before taking the orb over to the fountain and setting it down. Doing as she was taught, she pushes a little magic into the orb and then draws it up inside her. The feeling of something settling into her mind happens as it did with Theresa. Though this has a definite feel of sentience around it where Theresa is more like a magical puppy.
Channelling magic she pulls that feeling to the fore and out into the world, compared to summoning the fairy, this seems to take a very long time as in the open space on the other side of the fountain a large, western style, red dragon at least 10m tall, slowly takes form. Once it does it peers down at her and says something in a deep rumbling voice.
Holding firm on shaky legs Hermione replies, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that."
The dragon cocks it's head to one side before shimmering and in it's place is a medium height teenager, probably 3 or 4 years older than she is. Her red hair comes down to her shoulders with a fringe down to her eyebrows. She wears a black corset over a red dress, which itself is worn over a white blouse and petticoat. Sticking backward from just above her ears are a pair of straight horns. She walks around the fountain towards Hermione who's frozen to the spot and touches a finger to her forehead before babbling in a strange language. Hermione feels as though fingers are rooting through her brain for several seconds as she's frozen to the spot by magic.
"I'm sorry about that, I'm Xingwei. Thank you for getting me out of that orb, it's so boring sitting in there for who knows how long."
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Hermione. I'm sorry to do this, but I really need to get home, and I don't know if I can get you home too."
"Oh, don't worry about me, I can teleport. Or you can just tell me how you do it, and I'll do the same."
After some consultation together, another spell to view her memory of home, and a couple of false starts, Xingwei is able to use the main portal to get to Hermione's house.