Harry Potter and the Source Of All Power

by the cheshire cat in the hat

60 years after The Battle of Hogwarts the muggle and wizarding world have been integrated. On the train on their way to their last year at Hogwarts Fenuha Granger meets fellow student and trans-kid Hope Carter, doing her last year at Hogwarts as an exchange student from the US. This odd couple find friendship and adventure in the search of understanding the origin of magic

Harry Potter and the Source Of All Power

Act I:

Hogwarts

Contents:

Blurb

1. The Hogwarts Express

2. The Headmaster's Speech

3. Strawberry Pie

4. Harry's on the Telly

5. Exams and Hypotheses

6. Pub Crawl

7. Night owls and gym rats

8. A book within a book

9. A lesson in history

10. Sleep disturbance

11. Kill your darlings

12. A visit to the headmaster

old librarian's assistant

14. greeting Death as an old friend

15. The night before it all goes down

Blurb

60 years have passed since the battle of Hogwarts. The world has entered the new age of the Post-Combine, where the worlds of wizards and muggles are fully integrated. Combining science and magic has vastly improved technology, for better and for worse. Tension between mages and muggles are ever present, and parties on both sides propone reverting back to a segregated society.

Aboard the train on their way to their last year at Hogwarts sits Fenuha Granger, where they run into fellow student and trans-kid Hope Carter, doing her last year at Hogwarts as an exchange student from the US. Coming from vastly different backgrounds, this odd couple begins a friendship that will take them places they could never have imagined as they pursue the idea of creating an egalitarian society by giving magic to the muggles, which raises the question: "Where did magic come from?"

Hogwarts Express

The lush Scottish landscape rolled by outside the Hogwarts express window. Fen were partly looking out, partly looking at the sorry reflection looking back at them. A skinny face with strikingly sharp cheekbones, quite possibly the best thing they had ever got from their father. There were telling dark spots under the vibrant mahogany eyes that could have been slept away but hadn't. They ran their fingers along the pitch black hair on the top of their head that ended with a top knot at the back, which stood out starkly against the buzz cut on the sides.

They sighed. They got held up at security at the platform and had to have their entire bag searched, an exceptionally crappy way to start your day. Sure, the tension between warring factions is steadily present and rising, but this felt a bit overzealous. The school year hadn't even started yet and they already felt exhausted.

They tugged at the white poet shirt worn over gray slim fitting jeans. It looked good enough in the reflection. Good enough for the last year of Hogwarts, just need to get through this one last year and then… and then who the fuck knows.

Their train of thought was abruptly interrupted by someone knocking twice on the glass door to the coupe

A cautious looking face peeked out from the hallway. It was topped by black afro hair done into two big buns at each side of the back of her head, and the big curious eyes peeked out from behind even bigger circular glasses, their thin gold frames contrasted her dark skin. She was wearing a big beige coat that seemed just a little bit too large for her short stature, she had kind of a broad frame with softly slanted shoulders and wide hips. She had what looked like a generic school uniform, with a pullover cardigan over a white shirt and knee-long skirt, and on her left hand she wore a single silver ring. She was levitating a big pink worn down carry-on-case and on her shoulder sat a bright orange and blue lizard sat contently, seemingly curious of its surroundings as it wisped its tongue.

"Oh, uhm, sorry… is this seat taken?" she smiled nervously as she gestured to the spot across from them

"No, go ahead"

"Cool!"

"Sorry uhm. Are.. you new? I don't think I recognize you"

"Oh, you probably don't" she laughed "I'm an exchange student, from overseas. I'm doing my last year here" "Oh… duh" she palmed her forehead "where are my manners: Hope. Hope Carter"

She reached across with her hand

"Fen Granger. They them"

"Oh" her smile slowly grew wider, while looking curiously at them
"What?"
"No it's nothing, I.. just didn't expect to run into another trans kid the first thing off"
"Oh, you're…. "
"Yep, MTF" she jokingly did a little pose holding up her hand as a peace sign
"Wait…. "
Fen smiled politely while feeling just a little bit weary, they knew exactly what was coming next
"Did you say… Granger? Like, the Granger, Granger?" suddenly wide eyed, readjusting her glasses from the shock
"That's the one. Hermione Granger is my grandma"
"So then your mom is…."

"Cassidy Granger"
"Holy fucking shit"
"But I'm still just a person tho, just a regular ol' mage like you or any other"

"Yeah yeah no I get it, totally, totally. Sorry I didn't mean to .. make a big deal of it or anything. It's just" she gestured with her fingers spreading out from her temples "mind blown"
"I have the body that I have… because of your grandma"

Despite having had some version of this conversation a billion times, Fen couldn't help but smile. Her excitement was so genuine it was hard not to be at least a little bit compelled "Well… that… was the point, that's why she did it"
"Yeah yeah I… I'm just so grateful that she did, you know? She changed the game. Oh dang, this got weird, didn't it? Like I know you're not your grandma…"
"It's fine, really, it's fine. I get it, it's a huge deal for you."
"Yeah… it really is. But for you, you probably get this all the time"
"Well, not all the time. I'd say about 90… 95% of the time, give or take"
"Oh, I'm sorry" she seemed to shrink with the statement, looking worried
"Please, don't be. I'm just fucking with you, it's not that serious"
"Oh… ok!" she laughed. There was something expressive about her, like she wore every emotion on her sleeve, shamelessly emotional in an amiable way.

There was a rustling of metal in the background

"Oh, the snack cart is here! "

Hope looked slightly puzzled
"... snack cart ?"
"it's like an on-train merchant, they roll their cart through the train with like, food items"
She raised an eyebrow "A bit old fashioned isn't it ? As compared to like, vending machines…or delivery drones"

"It is, yeah, it is. But some traditions die hard."

Fen pulled out their wallet as the cart arrived. Hope leaned forward and curiously inspected the assortment but politely declined to purchase.

"Do you have bubble pops overseas?"

"Bubble pops? No, I don't think so... I certainly haven't heard of it before"

Fen purchased a pair.

They tossed one over to her which she clumsily just barely caught in the air
"There you go yankee, on me. A welcome to England treat."

"Oh… thanks! That's very kind of you."

She unwrapped it and studied it

"Bubble pop was it? So it's like… bubble gum flavored?"

"No it's actually champagne, or its supposed to be at least… and they also do this"

Fen held up their lollipop and blew on it, sending a barrage of glittery golden bubbles rising into the air

"Oh that's…."

Hope mimicked them

"That's so cute! I love it!" she the touched her pop cautiously with her tongue sending off a few bubbles, and reacted with surprise to the taste

"Oh that's frizzy" she put the whole thing in her mouth "It's a bit tingly"

"Yeah it's kinda like drinking soda, or well, champagne I guess."

"Yeah yeah kinda like drinking soda, but like, airier. And also kinda buttery?"

"Yeah I think buttery describes it. It's a pretty odd combination of things… it's not for everyone I suppose"

"No no I like it, thank you for letting me in on this, it's cute!" she smiled with genuine warmth

As she held out her lollypop her lizard scurried out from wherever it was hiding and attempted to tongue it but she narrowly yanked it away.

"NO Tommy you can't have sugar, you know that. We've talked about this." It looked absolutely scorned, its face was surprisingly expressive for a lizard.

"What is that, like a gecko or something?"

"It's a chimera, we actually don't really know what's in him. My mom rescued him from an illegal lab. But judging from the appearance it's probably only reptiles. He's actually quite smart, well…not always: he has his dumb dumb moments"
"A bootleg mystery chimera… named Tommy"
"Well, his full name is actually Tomorrow, but… Tommy is just a nickname I use sometimes, right Tomorrow?"
It looked up towards her, flicking its tongue. She gave him a little kiss on the back of his head
"He can be a bit of a rascal, sometimes he just disappears and appears at places, I don't know if he's a cloaker or a teleporter or something like that. I've never actually seen him do it "

Tomorrow looked away conspicuously

She put one hand on Tomorrow and held her lollypop on the other side of her, away from him.

"So… what classes are you taking?" she asked
"I don't know really"

"You don't know? but it's way past the date for deciding that"

"yeah yeah I know, I know, but I've talked to the professors and they know the deal, it's chill. probably gonna audit some classes and then decide"

"Wow" she breathed out and leaned back in her seat

"What?"

"No it's just… that's a really kind of… go-with-the-flow approach "

"That's me." they pointed to themself with their thumbs "the first ever Granger to not be destined for greatness"

"Aww don't say that. You can still do great things"

"Yeah, I could… but honestly: I don't really want to. Or at least I don't know if I want to. Like… can a madge just live?"

"That is also allowed.. I think" she smiled "but I get you, like, feeling that pressure: it's pretty understandable, considering your" she gestured vaguely towards them "...lineage."
"Yep. You could say that"
"And it, like, aways sucks being boxed in and all that just because of what people expect from you because of your background or whatever. I mean I should know: people expected me to be a boy for the first couple of years of my life, that box chafed like a motherfucker"
"I hear that, gender expectations are a real oof for sure"
"Still not the same as the deal with career and all"

"No... your gender is still yours right? But your family legacy… like, you can't turn off having parents, they're always gonna be what you're compared to. Both the thing they compare to and what others compare to "

"Yep, you can't turn having them off and they can't turn it off. Parents gonna parent! I think they'll always have like, some kind of… subconscious expectation that you're gonna be like them… in one way or the other"

"Hmm" they hummed in acknowledgement "Do you feel that as well? Or… What do your parents do?"

"Yeah, I do, I do. Well, sort of. Both my moms are aurors, and my dad is a nurse."

"What's a nurse?"
"It's like a muggle doctor, but they kinda do other stuff, like they're more practical"

"Oh neat! I guess we both have muggle dads!"
"Oh right! Because your dad's the muggle computer scientist"
"Yeah, exactly"

"Oh that's funny… well I guess heterogamy is almost the norm now"

"Yeah, that's true… so do you feel like, you're like supposed to follow your moms into the force?"

"No. " she said, so bluntly it warranted a laugh from both of them in the silence that followed

"I'm… just sooo obviously not cut out for it. I know it's not for me and I know it's not what I want"

"Well.. that's a weight off your shoulders I guess, to know that for sure I mean"

"Yeah it is, it actually is"

there was a brief silence as the conversation thread died out. they awkwardly looked away from each other, Hope mindlessly fidgeted with her silver ring

"So, what classes are you taking"

she counted on her fingers while looking away recalling memory "Merlin Computing, Combine History, and Introduction to Planar Calculus"

"Huh, really into the combine stuff huh"

"Yeah you could say that "

"So you want to become like an arcanist, or a healer or…?"

"I want to become a scientist"

"Oh, cool, I guess you're the child my parents wanted to have"
She laughed.
"I am surely not living up to their expectations, but.. maybe someday I will." She smiled knowingly

"Yeah…. I'm just glad there are people like you wanting to make a change, someone's gotta clean up the absolute trash pile that is the current world "
She laughed

"That's a bit much don't you think?"
"Yeah ok, maybe a little… but things are looking rough, there's no denying that"

"True, true. Between climate change and muggle-mage tensions... it's a bit on the edge you could say. But that's also part of the reason I feel motivated! To make things better"

"Cool, I'll gladly accept you as our savior… meanwhile I'll just be along for the ride"

She laughed

"It's a deal!"

She awkwardly laid up a high five and they returned it
"Do you know what change that is gonna be, like which field of science or whatever"
"Yes. I do. I… want to work on the pluripotency"

They were taken a back in silence, wide eyed

"Oh, that's…. "
"What?"
"It's just… that's almost science fiction, most people would call it a pipe dream, at best. We've never converted even a single muggle, converting EVERYONE, that's some goal."

"Then I guess you could say I'm a dreamer. A world without muggles, that's the dream"

"It sounds so menacing when you say it like that. 'a world without muggles' "

"Haha yeah, just gonna kill all the muggles so there's only mages left, big brain move"

"Easy there lord voldemort"

they both laughed

"But I think you'd be surprised. The rate of development for combine tech is steadily accelerating. The Weasley-Copter was created 6 years after The Combine, by year 11 we had the first hyper-train line and at year 19… well, your mom, created the merlin computer"
"And dad. And a few others. Mom is usually the one credited for the invention, but history tends to forget she was the only mage in a full research team of muggles"

"Oh, yeah that's true. I think I actually knew that but it's so easy to forget"

"Yeah…. but still. you really know you postcombine history"

"I think it's fascinating" her eyes lit up almost gleaming "To be alive right now, in the wake of the combine, following Hermione Granger's legacy, one people, magical and non-mag, all together. Like, right now, anything is possible. You, and I, all of us, could be the ones to write history"

They looked at her skeptically

"Yeah… sure… "
"You don't feel like the world is ours for the taking?" she said jokingly

"Let's just say I'm open to the idea, definitely open to it"
They laughed

"Do you ever think, like 'oh my god my grandma started all this'... oh sorry, I'm bringing that up again, just realized "

"It's ok, I do, sometimes. But she was just one key player in this big intricate … thing. Technically it all started with a certain squib and children's author: the one and only Earl Grey McTea" they praised sarcastically

Hope shuddered with disgust

"God, hearing that name, it almost makes me wanna gag"

"Yeah, she sure did hate people like us… and especially people like you I guess"

"But her hate campaign was what finally tipped it over the edge, Hermione Granger felt that since McTea was a squib she was part of the magical world, and it was our responsibility to correct for any damage she had caused the muggle world"

"And thus the MORPHA treatment was created, created together with a muggle doctor."

Hope raised her hands and faced upwards as if praising God

"MORPHA, the best thing ever created. Incidentally also the first combine tech ever created"

"You went on MORPHA right?"
"Oh yeah, big time. It's fantastic, you can basically pick and choose what features you want. You can be fully, 100% cis passing if you want, I even have a uterus! Did you use it?"

"Yeah I tried it out, just barely. I just wanted to look slightly more androgynous, and well, it did that"

"And to think Hermione Granger did time for inventing that"

"Yeah, 10 years at Turtle Rock, she would have ended up at Azkaban if she hadn't dismantled it just a few years earlier, which is insane to think about."

"But her imprisonment did spark the combine movement and…. "
"And here we are"
"The twists and turns of history huh"

"Yeah like, history is wild sometimes"

Suddenly, their wand buzzed, they took it out and tapped it twice with their thumb, white smoke flowed out to form a rectangular cloud with the picture of their dad

"Incoming call from Professor Fan Zhào" sounded from the wand with an emotionless female voice

"Hold on it's my dad… let me just take this"
"Sure! Go ahead"

They put the tip of their wand to their temple and their eyes glossed over as they left their body and let their mind enter the call lobby, a peaceful garden with the faint sound of streams of water running through it. Their dad sat waiting in the opposite chair, projecting his usual suit that he used for teaching at the muggle university… always so formal. He smiled and waved enthusiastically.

"Hello sweetheart! How's your trip? Are you at Hogwarts yet?" he asked in mandarin
"No, I'm at the express, we're about halfway there" they answered, also in mandarin

"So I was just talking to David mom, you know David right? You used to play together, he was in your jiu jitsu class"

"Yeah… David Lynch, I remember him.. what about him?"

"So … he graduated last year, and he took Advanced Arithmancy as an elective and apparently he's had a lot of use for it! There are a lot jobs where it's seen as perk to have"

"Ok… sure, and?"
"No I was just thinking since you had trouble choosing your elective maybe that's something for you? I don't think you'd ever regret it"

They sighed
"Yeah… sure…"
"Your grandmother is one of the greatest arithmancer there ever was"
"Yeah well I'm NOT Hermione, dad please we talked about this, you don't have to… "

"Yeah I know I know, I just want to help you "
They sighed heavily.

"I know…. I know, but I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself"
"Well, you will always be my precious little child, to me"
"Ok dad, I'm gonna go, I was actually talking to someone"

"Oh you met a new friend? What are…"

"Byyyeee, love you!"

they hung up and snapped back to their body

Hope looked at them and laughed.

"Why do you have your dad saved as his full name?"
"Ehh.. I don't know, I've WAS meaning to change it, then I forgot about it, and then I just kinda got used to it"
"Everything well with him?"
"What?"
"Your dad, is he well?"

"Oh! Uhm, yeah, he's good. It was just… parent stuff"
She pointed at them with and acknowledging expression

"Parent stuff"

"How 'bout you, your parents check in on you a lot?"
"Well… they all got their own brand of the stuff. My dad will give long lectures occasionally but then be pretty hands off, my mimi is pretty neurotic… but not too bad. I think my mom is the worst, in that she's really overprotective"

"I guess being an auror could influence you in that regard"
"Yeah I think so, like, mimi's also an auror but she's in intelligence so her field of work is just vastly different. Mom's more "street level" so to speak, and she also grew in a pretty rough neighborhood, so… yeah"

"That adds up yeah, thinks like that would probably make your overprotective"
"She's so funny sometimes tho, like she makes me carry an emergency beacon in case I'd need to contact her, look"

She took out a keychain, and held forth a small cylindrical metal object
They laughed

"But…. couldn't you just call?"
"Right? But she always goes on about how the information network is actually really vulnerable for attack and that you 'can't be too certain'"

they shook their head in disbelief

"That is some length to go to… but I guess it's still pretty sweet tho, like it's just out of care right"
"Yeah, definitely. But she can take it a bit too far sometimes. Like, she almost kinda sort of made me promise not to drink while I'm here."

"Oh, but because you're not 18 or...?"
"No I am, or well, I will be pretty soon at least, but the drinking age back home is 21"

"Oooh, right, right. And your other parents, where do they stand on the issue?"

"They're chill, mostly chill actually. Just want me to be cautious with it"
they looked at her and smiled
"Well you don't really strike me as someone who goes haywire… could be wrong, could be wrong"
she laughed

"No I think that's about right. How about you, have you had your 18th birthday yet?

"I'm actually 19. I had a gap year, for, uhm… mental health reasons. And my birthday is in April."

"Oh all right"
"So you said you will be 18 pretty pretty soon… when is your birthday? "
"I'm 18 in October the 3d, so it's pretty soon"
"Oh, guess we still have time to plan a celebration"
"Well… I don't really celebrate my birthday, because…"

"Right. Because you celebrate your name day instead"
"Exactly"
"So when's your name day?"

"It's actually… today. This is the day I became… Hope"

"TODAY is your name day? Have you celebrated? Had cake?"
"No I, had to wake up really early for a portkey"

"Oh man, we got to celebrate in some way once we get to Hogwarts"

"No, I'm… it's fine. It's not a big deal"

"That is some nonsense right there. It's your nameday: of course it's a big deal!"

She looked genuinely a bit distressed, but mostly embarrassed

"Please….just don't make a big fuss just for me, it's fine, it's just my nameday"

"All right all right I hear ya… but you better find time to celebrate at some point! You can't skimp one these things, they're important"

"So you're a… 'value tradition' kind of person?"
"Well…. not exactly, I value some tradition"
"Like birthdays? You make a big deal out of your own birthday as well?"
"Eeeh.. not… I highly prefer the birthdays of others, not my own"
"Oh? So you're a birthday hypocrite?"
"A birthday hypocrite? Did you just make that up?"
"Perhaps, but it's true isn't it?"

Fen laughed

"Hey I wouldn't really put it that way but sure, if you wanna call it that, sure"

"How would you put it then?"
"I… just don't like the spotlight, ya know? I'd rather it be on somebody else"

"Honestly relatable"
"You don't like being center stage either?"
"Ehh… maybe occasionally but I don't really seek it out"
"You might have to get used to it, you're gonna be the new girl among people who've seen nobody else for 6 years"
"Aaahhh" she exclaimed and put her face in her hands "you're right" she said looking up again, "I haven't thought about that"

"Oh, I didn't mean it like, as a scare, just like, thas what's it gonna be"

"Yeah yeah I get it, it's just a little intimidating, going to the Hogwarts, being part of the Hogwarts student body""

"Eh it's not that big a deal really. Sure there are some big names coming from this school, but overall, most students are just… average. Just…ok. Decent, but unremarkable"

"So you think I'll do ok?"

"Ok? Madge you're gonna be fine. You know shit, you have like ambitions, you're gonna be a ok without a doubt, I promise"

"That's nice of you to say, I 'm just… I'm a little different"
"...huh? What do you mean 'different' "
"I'm a paramagus, I perceive magic differently from others."
"Oh… ok"

" Yeah, when I started school they thought I might have been a squib. Before they figured it out"

She took off her glasses.

"These aren't actually for eyesight, they're augmented in a way that helps me see the fabric of spells. Without them I can't cast at all. Well almost not at all"

"Huh, that's pretty cool… Can I try them on?"

"Sure, but it won't do anything. They don't have an effect on normal mages."

She took them off and handed them over, they put them on

They put them on, everything looked bright and grainy, with colors shifting like oil on water.

"Woooah, that's trippy"
"…so I've been told. For me they just make things… make sense. Magic wise"

"Some think Merlin was a paramagus. There is historical data that suggests he carried several different charms with him at pretty much all time, and there is reason to believe they could have been para-adjusters "

"Yeah… I could see that. He was definitely known for doing things… differently. "

They took a last look at the glasses before handing them back

"Wait, you said almost all magic… what magic can you do without magic?"

"Oh it's some wandless stuff…?"

"For real? Wandless? That's dope"

"Yeah but it's… not very pragmatic, I can interact with some magical things, but it's pretty slow and limited"

"Oh.. that still sounds pretty cool, can you show anything?

"Uhm… sure… Tommy? Tommorow? Where did you go?" she patted down her clothes before eventually bringing out the somewhat reluctant lizard.

"Hey baby, let's do a trick, ok?"

Tomorrow tilted his head but didn't protest as she held him in the palm of her hand

"Ok… here I go"

she took off her glasses, closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths in a rhythmical pattern. Then when she opened them again, Tomorrow started to rapidly shift colors, going on for a couple of seconds before finally reverting back to his original colors.

"Whooa! That's sick!"

she gently patted his head

"Good boy Tomorrow!"

and then took out a pellet from her pocket, which she tapped with her wand turning it into a fly, which Tomorrow snatched out of the air with his tongue. She held up her hand to let him crawl onto her shoulder, but Tomorrow turned around and sounded a gentle hiss.

"Baby! Why are you fussin? You wanna go in the pokéball? Lets go in the pokéball" she took out a flat circular metallic pendant hanging on a chain around her neck, there was a lizard footprint engraved onto it. She opened it up and Tomorrow crawled into it, disappearing completely, before closing it again and putting it back.

"Uh.. what was that?"
"Oh it's like a pocket dimension enclosure used for pets. This one is a terrarium, and he has like food and enrichment and stuff in there"
"Why is it called a pokéball?"
"I have no idea actually, it's just a name that caught on I think"

There was another brief silence

"What dorm are you going to" she asked
"Uhm… probably the girls. I've been in both, I got my own for a while but it got kinda lonely, but… I was in the girls last year"

"Hmmm, enby struggles huh? "
"Yeah, tell me about it"

"You should go to the girls, then we can be roommates!"
"Oh. yeah, sure… "

"Or, I don't mean to be too forward, ha ha sorry I'm kinda socially awkward sometimes. You probably already have a lot of friends here"
"Well… actually, most of my friends have already graduated since I had a year of leave."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, either way we'll see each other around I guess"

"For sure, for sure. We'll be in the same quarters. Last year students are in the old Slytherin quarters"
"Ooh.. is it like, spooky?"
"No not really, they didn't really preserve that atmosphere. It's in the basement sure but it has plenty of portwindows for natural daylight. It's actually pretty cozy. I used to hang there a lot last year, with my… old classmates. It does have a terrarium with a snake but that's about it."
"What house do you think you would have placed in if they were still in place"

"I don't know, Hufflepuff? Doesn't really matter because it's all bullshit "

"Really? Even with the sorting hat and all that?"

"The sorting hat? The sorting hat was a scam, like a full out scam I'm not kidding. It just pretended to "see you for what you truly are" or some shit while in reality it just looked up where you live and what your parents worked as, and then did some rough extrapolations."

"Oh, that's… a bummer. But why would it do that?"

"Why? Because the houses were used as an artificial hierarchy meant to promote elitism and competitiveness, so that a few select people, meaning the gryffindors, would think of themselves as "special" and "brave" and then pursue a career as auror. Like that was literally the whole reason for the houses, it was a system to create more aurors because Hogwarts was founded during the Spectral Wars and the ministry wanted a stronger police state."

"Huh…. yeah that really puts it down a peg, I actually didn't know that. But still… isn't it fun to fantasize about? Having like, your place in world figured out for you, being told what you're good at and all that"

"Yeah… I guess, there is a certain appeal to it, it's just so… fucking stupid. A personality cannot just be reduced to a few key traits, especially not if it's decided at 11 and supposed to apply throughout most of adolescence, or even for life"

"Yeah I guess not… when you put it like that it's almost hard to believe how it was kept for so long"

"What can you say, people really like being part of a group"
"I guess we do. And I mean like, in some way being part of a group that just barely suits you would still be better than having no idea who you are"

Fen felt a jolt of unease go through their chest, those words resonated a bit too much, in a not so pleasant way

"Uhm…..ehm.. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe you're right yeah "

"But wait a minute now…wasn't Harry Potter famously almost sorted into Slytherin because of the horcrux inside of him"
"He was almost sorted to Slytherin yes but the hat never specified why. And if you take an orphan who grew up in an abusive foster family… what path are they statistically more likely to take: fighting crime or doing crime?"

"But it still let him into Gryffindor when he asked for it?"
"Yeah… it doesn't look good for the hat if kids end up miserable in the house they're in and request to change later."

"Hmmm…. a lot of history doesn't really hold up under scrutiny huh"

"Yeah, unfortunately that seems to be the case. Especially the romanticized parts"

"Ow, ow, wait .. aah!" Hope suddenly burst out
She took out the pokéball, took the chain off her neck and dropped it on the seat next to her.

"Wh… what happened?" Fen laughed

"It's …. Tomorrow gets really hot when he sleeps sometimes and it makes the pendant almost scalding. And he's a really sound sleeper"

"But… it's a pocket dimension right? What happens in there shouldn't affect the outside"
"Yeah…. but pocket dimensions are weird like that. Sometimes certain types of energy…. and radiation I guess can cross over the dimensional border"

"That is weird as hell, I've never even heard of that happening"
"Yeah it's a bit weird for sure, there is a lot to pocket dimensions that is not apparent"

"Madge, the intricacies of magic seem endless sometimes"
"Yeah, for sure, for sure" '

There was a melodic sound of a bell being rung

"Arriving at Hogwarts in… 5 minutes" a voice sounded through the loudspeakers"

"There we are, you feeling ready?"
"Uhm, barely"
Fen laughed

"Relax, you're gonna do just fine. I promise"

2. The Headmaster's Speech

Dinner was coming to a close. There was a melodic rhythmic tapping of a fork against a glass, it was the headmaster Professor Lovegood ready to make her annual welcome speech

"Welcome all of you, students and teachers and staff, to a new year at Hogwarts, I expect this year to be much like the last except that was a different year and this is a new one. And even though the bricks and stones that built this old castle are sitting firmly in the same places as last year, the walls we build around us are constantly… in flux, like the hot air whirling around the wings of a jaggercax."

She gestured vividly as she spoke

"We are… safe, inside these walls, like little potted plants in a greenhouse, allowed to grow safely, shielded from the harsh winds of the wide world outside. But on the outside… the world still continues turning. And turning it does, in a new terrible direction. We are subtly, cautiously, incrementally edging towards darkness, uncannily present as during the day of an eclipse. "

She paused, letting her somewhat vague and confusing statement sit for a bit while she appeared to be gathering her thoughts

"While we sit safe and sound inside these walls we mustn't forget the world outside that we are preparing for, because it is not a world you should face unprepared. The darkness seeps into the hearts of many, and while we see that happen we must never ever forget… there's a little sliver of darkness in all of us, waiting to fester and grow when we are at our weakest. And it's in our weakest moments we need to be the strongest… and fight back. Stand our ground and say "darkness my friend, I see you inside of me. I will hold your hand but not let you control me".

She reached out her hand as addressing that imagined darkness in front of her

"Struggle drains us, struggle takes us to a place of weakness. And just as muggles are struggling to live in a world of magic, us mages are struggling to live in a world of muggles, the transition is still a fresh wound that has not yet fully healed, and we can't let it with darkness fester. Change is often hard, and often painful because change is the trauma of losing what you once were… but change is inevitable. Good or bad. When change happens it doesn't know which it is, it is something we ascribe to it after it has happened, depending on how much we liked it."

She paused for effect

"But sometimes that opinion changes with time, because we change with time. I was taking my morning walk today at dusk to see the last remnants of fairy glitter hover above the ground. And it made me think about how much bigger magic is than all of us, so much we don't understand. Maybe, just as we once hid from the muggles, there is something equally more powerful hiding from us. But until something like that is discovered, it lies with us to use our power to change the world for the better. And I hope this year will make you just a little bit more prepared for that. Welcome"

3. Strawberry pie

Fen and Hope were leaving the dining hall together

"Oh shit I think I forgot something in the great hall, could you wait for me just a minute while I go get it" Fen said to Hope

"Uhhm, sure. I'll wait, no problem"
They walked hastily away and hurried down to the kitchens, knocking loudly at the door frame on arrival
"Uhm sorry to bother you but is Gaz here?"

One of the elves shouted down the kitchen

"Hey Gaz! It's your yumie friend! they're asking for ye!"

Soon after Gaz arrived drying his hands on a towel. He had three rings in his right ear and one in his left, his left arm had a full sleeve of tattoos and his skin was a dark reddish brown color that resembled mahogany. He wore a black button up shirt with gray dress pants and a leather apron with several pockets over it, like most elves just slightly overdressed for the job they're in.
"Eeey if it isn't my favorite yumer, welcome back to Hogwarts you little rascal. What is this? Your fifth year?"
"Thanks, and it's my last year actually"
"Last year already? Gosh you grow up fast"
"I guess we do… hey can I ask you for a small favor?"
"Sure what's up"
"I know you're closing up and all but do you happen to have a slice of cake over or something? Just something to put a candle in"
"Ooh someone's having a birthday?"
"Nameday actually"
"Nameday even. Someone I know?"

"No definitely not, it's an exchange student, stepped on Hogwarts ground for the first time today"

"Well then we have to give them a warm welcome. I'll go have a looker"
"Thanks! "
Gaz shifted around the kitchen, moving things around with magic
"Would you settle for some strawberry pie?"
"That's perfect!"

Gaz handed over them a plate with a slice of pie.
"Wait just a second, I'll fix you up with some white chocolate whipped cream"
"Oh, you don't have to do that"
"Oh yes I do yumie, it's a crime to eat it without it"

"All right, I'm not gonna mess with your process"
"You better not!"
Gaz worked astonishingly quick, just a simple task as whipping cream flowed like music as he snapped his fingers multiple times to make things appear and move around.

He served up a generous dollop on the plate.
"There ya go, fit for any foreigner. Where they from anyways?"
"The US"
"Ahh, they got some weird food over there for sure, I hope this is suitable for an american palate"
"I'm sure it is, your cooking never disappoints"
"Atta yumie, now go get her before the cream deflates!"
"I will! And thanks again!"
"Don't mention it"
Fen hurried back towards Hope, they stopped about halfway. Okay they didn't have a real candle but it's a very straight forward minor illusion to cast, they held up the plate and pointed their wands towards it while focusing intensely. Find the thread… anchor it, shape it… a basic cylinder, then details. Golden sparks sprayed out of the pie as a small candle sprouted forth, they flicked their wand again and the candle sparked a golden flame that sparkled with glitter as it burned. The candle was just a little bit crooked but the flame looked nice and bright. They hid it behind their back as they approached Hope.
"Surprise! Happy name day!" they pulled it out in front of her and handed it over along with the fork

Her eyes widened up in astonishment

"Oh my god! Are you for real?"
"Well.. the pie is real, the candle isn't"
"Oh the candle is an illusion? It looks really good, I… this is too much you shouldn't have"

"Well… I could and I did"
"Thank you soo much this is so sweet. I feel so seen oh my god" she took a first bite
"Mmm! Holy shit this is goood"

"You didn't have this at dinner already did you?"
"No I didn't, well, maybe I saw it but but I'm treating your pies with some caution"

"Fair enough. I hoped for cake but this is what they had "

"Fen it's perfect, I couldn't be happier."

She took another bite and her face again lit up in approval

"Have you had this? It's amazing"

"No I haven't actually but it's fine…"
"Here let me dupe the fork" she placed it on the plate and tapped it twice with her wand it tingled and shivered before splitting in two identical forks with a small flash of light. She extended the plate towards them. They forked up some pie and cream, it was indeed delicious. It was sweet and aromatic and tangy all at once, the rich strawberry flavor was boldly front and center and the complementing flavors framed it perfectly.

"Yeah… it's pretty good all right"
"Pretty good? This might be the best pie I've ever had"

"Hey now, you don't have to exaggerate"

"I'm honestly not. You know… like, it's not just the pie right? Like the strawberries and the dough and all that, it's also the care that was put into it that makes it taste better. The love and care the chef put into it baking this… the care you put into it arranging this. That's a special kind of magic"

Fen let out a small laugh

"A special kind of magic huh? I don't think they teach that at Hogwarts"

"Well… maybe they should"

"Maybe they should"

4. Harry's on the telly

Fen lay in bed mindlessly scrolling their cloud as Hope came by

"You wanna come up to the common room and watch the cloud?" she asked them

"Why? What's on?"

"It's The Conjurer's Corner, Harry Potter is one of the guests tonight!"

"Eh.. I don't know I feel like he's kinda overhyped"

"Really? The boy who lived, vanquisher of the dark lord, overhyped?"

"Yeah… but we've heard that story by now, there are books written about it, several of them. And he's well into his 70s now"

"That's not that old for a mage, and besides, they say he's currently working on a book. I think that's pretty interesting. Come on you don't want to miss this"

"I…. kinda doubt it? But ok sure whatever. I was gonna go down for tea anyways"

There was a small crowd gathered around the cloud sitting in various chairs and couches or on the floor on pillows. The host was addressing the guests

"So Agatha… Agatha, am I saying that right?"

"Yes. Agatha"

"You.. are starring in quite a big role right now is that right?"

"Yes, yes it's a pretty big role, I think you could say that"

"I feel like people can't stop talking about it… what was the title again?"

" 'One Last Breath' , It's a historical drama set in 1980s Berlin, and… it's shot entirely with muggle tech, no magic involved"

"No magic, I guess you have to carry out the enchantment with your acting alone"

Agatha laughed

"Yes I guess so"

"And do you, do you play a muggle or are you just… playing a mage"

"I'm playing a mage in the story, but it's very much a muggle's story, but from a mage's point of view"

"Capturing the magic of the non-magic, and do you feel comfortable in this setting, being around muggles?"

"Yeah well…it's not foreign to me, I've had some muggle friends growing up, and you know… they're just like us. Right? We're all human, magic or no magic"

"Yes unfortunately, we're just as fallible as they are. No magic can fix that"

"Oh I didn't mean…"

"Yes yes, we know what you mean, it's all good now" the guests and the audience laughed at the host's antics "now Potter.. you certainly know how it is living in a muggle setting"

Potter smiled in a way that wrinkled his weathered face and waited briefly before speaking up, his posture and composure was calm and collected to a point of having a commanding presence

"Yes I do, all too well, unfortunately. I grew up with my aunt's family, who were muggles. Sadly they weren't exactly what you would call good parents. Not by today's standard… or by any standard really"

"And do you think that is a typical part of the muggle experience"

"No, I don't think so, I've known many muggles throughout my life and they're almost all of them good decent people. What was lacking in my childhood wasn't magic… it was love"

"Oh that's terrible, isn't that terrible?"
"It is, it truly is. To deprive a child of love.. is worse than any unforgivable curse."

"Speaking of which, speaking of which…"
Potter smiled knowingly, the host paused
"..you sure look like you know where I'm going with this"
"Yes. I think I do, it's about the book I am guessing"
"Well… it's hard to not be curious, I think we all are here." he turned to the audience and gestured to them and was answered with a loud murmur and cheering

"Is this the first book you've authored?"

"Well… yeah, sort of. I co-authored an autobiography… I guess about two centuries ago? It sure feels like it." there were some laughs "So this is my first truly own creation, yes. "

"And what is it called?"
"It's called… 'A thousand ways to power', which might not be the final title, but currently that's what I'm working with"
"A thousand ways to power, that's quite the name. I'd settle for even one way to power, being a tv-host hasn't exactly done wonders for acquiring status and influence" the audience laughed

"Well… it's not exactly… that. It's more of a cautionary tale. The end goal… the reason I'm writing this is that I want people to sort of, be able to recognize a 'dark lord in the making' so to speak… and thus be able prevent them from ever becoming one"
"Yes, that's what the buzz is always about isn't it? Who's going to be the next Lord Voldemort, although most people today have, obviously, not even lived through the reign of a dark lord. But you certainly have"
"Yes, I was kinda in the midst of it, you could say that"
"Yes yes, of course. And you are… you are one of the last few people that have"
"Yes, exactly, and that's also a part of it right? It's our duty as the older generation to not let people forget. That… it could happen again"

"And would this book help with that, to learn about the dark arts, and how to… nip it in the bud, so to speak"
"Yes, that's what I hope for… more than anything else. I've dedicated, most of it, to understanding the dark arts and the process of learning them in a very technical way… but not in a way that you could use it to learn these things yourself of course, that would kinda defeat the purpose."

There were some light laughter

"So there is a lot of dark magic, a large part is dedicated to horcruxes, unsurprisingly. But it's also in large parts about the sociological aspects of power, Voldemort didn't rise to power through the horcruxes alone, it was mostly through rallying people against a marginalized group, that is sort of, easy to hate and that is also kind of too weak to defend themselves, and then using desinformation to paint them as the villain"

"Oh, that's quite an observation. And do you truly believe that? That creating a scapegoat to rally against is as… much a source of power as something like the horcruxes?"
"Absolutely, without a doubt. I'd say even more than something like the horcruxes.

Take Earl Grey McTea, for example. She was just a squib that happened to be a successful children's author, but completely without magic just by spreading transphobia she managed to cause arguably as much damage as Voldemort ever did."

"And do you.. do you think that she could have become a dark lord, had she been a witch?"
"Oh. without a doubt."

"Oh really?"
"Yes, I am absolutely certain. Having known Voldemort… way more intimately then I had wished for, I can truly recognize the similarities in thinking and rhetoric. It's the hate and disdain for something they do not understand and feel doesn't belong in "our society". That's.. very much at the core of it "

"Well then I think we can all be grateful she was born a squib, we can certainly do with one dark lord less. Maybe not having magic can solve a lot of problems… for someone else, not for me. Of course" the audience laughed
"Do you ever wish you were born without magic" he directed to Agatha

"No.. no,no" she denied vigorously and the audience's laughs continued
"Harry?"
"No not really, I.. quite enjoy it. Despite everything"
"Speaking of… the the gift of magic, Potter…?"

"Mhm? Yes?"

"...this is something you touch upon in your upcoming book, or so I've heard rumored"

"Oh yes, well… you're talking about the source of all power?"
"I am, I am. That's quite something else entirely, apart from everything else in your book isn't it? Most people know it as an Arthurian legend, if not, well.. I think "fairytale" is what some would call it"
Potter laughed
"Yes, I don't disagree with that, I truly don't. 'Fairytale' is an apt description"

"And yet you've still chosen to include it in your book"

"Yes, well I… this has been a fascination of mine for years so I've put a lot of research into it. Maybe it's real, maybe it's not, I don't know if it will be found during my lifetime.. or ever. But.. it's just too great of a thing to ignore, in the hands of the ministry it could do a lot of good, and in the hands of…"

"..a children's books author.." the host interjected followed by laughter

"A children's books author, for example, it could be devastatingly dangerous. I just kinda want people to keep it on their radar, regardless of how ridiculous it might sound."

"Well, I'll make sure to keep it on my radar, I'll let you know if I find something"

"Fantastic, I really appreciate it"

"So… when does this book come out? When can we read it?"

"Well… I don't have a set date.. and there is still so much more I want to include"

"Oh come on! You can't put us on hold like that. You're not gonna labor over this for the rest of your life are you? Give the people what they want"

"I really don't plan to, but if I were to die before it is finished I've arranged for it to be released posthumously, along with my notes."

"Oh, someone's prepared. If not in a bit morbid way"

"I don't really think of it like that, for someone my age, death is just the next adventure"

5. Exams and Hypotheses

Fen was lying in bed, re-reading the same sentences over and over. Feels like they've been on the same page for the last 20 minutes. God damned fucking arithmancy, well at least they didn't take it as an extended class.

They got up and headed down to the common room. Just needed some coffee and a change of scene. Coffee and a change of scene, that'll do it. Surely.

They went to the coffee and tea station in the common room, and put some coffee beans in the bottom and filled up with water then made a stirring motion above the cup with their wand to make it combine and heat. They tried a sip. Perfect. If nothing else their coffee brewing spellcasting was getting quite good. They levitated the cup in a fixed position beside them to follow them as they went up to the library.

The library was fairly vacant as expected for a Sunday afternoon, but as they headed for the reading area they saw a familiar figure: Hope. Her big mousy hair buns and the lizard on her shoulder made her hard to 's nice, maybe they didn't have to study alone. They approached them and poked her in the side, she startled up and faced them

"Hey" they said in a hushed voice in an attempt to respect the rules of the library
"Oh, it's you! Hi" she answered in the same low speaking volume

They say down opposite to her

"What are you here for? Arithmancy also or..?"

"Oh no I've done all my studying actually"

"Oh you have? Well, then… why are you here?"
"I'm uh… I'm doing research"
"Research? What?"

She held up a book, showing them the title "The Seven Grand Artifacts of Myth"

they looked at her skeptically
"...I'm not sure I follow …"

Their conversation was interrupted by the librarian

"You know your conversation is still audible even if you speak hushed"

"Sorry Mrs Ainsworth" they said almost in unison

She gave them a stern look and left them

Hope made a silent sigh and rolled her eyes before pulling out her wand

"It's about the SOAP" she made appear in glowing gold text in the air with the aid of her wand

Fen pulled out their wand and copied

"The what now?"
"The SOAP! The Source of all Power! The thing Potter talked about on the show, I think it might be real. And some even say it's here at Hogwarts!"
"O k…. and… you wanna be the one that finds it…? "

"Well, yeah, kinda. That's why I'm doing this at least"
"But why would you want that? You don't strike me as someone out for world domination"

"It's not about that! It's about The Pluripotency"
"... huh?"
"Like… "

She paused and looked away in thought

"IF the SOAP exists… like it's a big if but, IF it does, then… look: The SOAP is supposed to be the thing that gives mages their magical power right? It's kinda right there in the name."
"I'm with you so far"
"...and if it can give magic to us, if we had it, then maybe we could understand how it does that and then…"
"... and then use that to do the same to muggles?"
"Exactly!"

"Well… it's not the most outlandish theory I've heard about it"
"Right? And maybe even if I couldn't find it, then maybe I could find a description of it that would give away how it works"

"It sounds about as likely to happen as me getting full marks on my arithmancy exam…. like, not impossible but, yeah.. Maybe manage your expectations here"

"But unlike your arithmancy exam I have nothing to lose here"

"Touché"

6. Pub Crawl

They arrived at the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade where they had agreed to meet up, Hope wasn't there yet. They sat down and greeted the bartender
"Fen! Haven't seen you in a while. What can I do you for?"
"Sabrina, good to see you. I think I'm actually gonna wait to order, I'm waiting for someone"

"Oooh, you got a date?"
"No, no not at all" Fen laughed "Just a friend"
"All right, fair enough" she moved on
Fen pulled out their cloud and scrolled mindlessly through the aether, the bar patrons buzzing in the background. Some time later someone tapped on their shoulder, it was Hope.

"Hey sorry I'm late" , they stood up and greeted her with a hug.
"It's fine, I'm not in that much of a hurry to escape sobriety. Not today at least. "

they each ordered a beer that they then received

"So you got held up by something?"

"Uhhhm…. "
"...what?"
"Well… "

Fen gave her a puzzled inquiring look
"I was at... quidditch practice?"

"...I'm sorry?"
"uh, yeah… "
"I'm taking you're not taking up quidditch"

"No I was more like… observing"
"Oh... oooh, you were observing, I see how it is. Was there a certain chaser under your observation?"

"Well, hmm, maybe…"

"You turned up for quidditch practice just to check Marv out"
"No I…! Well, yeah but… "

"I don't get your game madge, you just gonna follow him around and hope he notices you? That's not a game plan that's just wishful thinking"

"Well, I.. what else am I gonna do?"

"Madge, just ask him out"
"No! I can't.."

"Why not?"

"He's, he's so cool… and I'm just a shy dork"
"You're cool"

"I am not cool, of all the things I am, cool is like the least thing that I am"

"I think you're cool…or like, in your way of being cool at least… but, look l don't think you get this, like, you actually don't get this…"

"Get what?"

"That, like, you are for real real hot shit here. These people have been seeing the exact same faces for SIX years, you're the exciting new… mystery woman from an exotic foreign country. You gotta play that advantage. Play your cards madge."
"Hmmmm, I don't know"
"Just do it. Marv is like the chillest dude you'll meet and like, he might not look like it, but he's also kinda a dork, like you"

"Marv's a dork? The chaser prodigy that's built like a Greek god? Are you sure?"

"Yeah yeah he's totally nerdy, just happens to be nerdy about quidditch instead of being just nerdy about… everything." They gestured vaguely towards Hope "He can like, literally recite match scores from 10 years ago, and god will hell not shut the fuck up about the differences between broom models if you let him start talking about it"

She still looked skeptical while raising her gaze in pondering

"Do you want me to ask him out for you?"
"NO! Don't you dare I will fucking kill you"

"What… why are you this jittery about this, it's not a big deal"
"I don't know! It's just, every time I'm around someone I'm attracted to my brain just shuts down and stops working and I become a disoriented mess."

"Not so smooth with the boys huh?'

"Boys are actually easier. Well…. relatively. Girls are even worse. Like so much worse"
"Girls are worse? Really?"
"Yeah, like, if a dude's nice, he's gonna act like a nice dude, if he's an asshole, he's gonna act like an asshole. Men stay in their lanes. But girls… girls are wild!"
Fen burst out in laughter

"But you're a girl! You're not wild"
"I'm not wild to me, because I know me. I don't know other girls"
"I guess that makes sense…so what kind of girls are you into, are there any girls here that shut your brain off?"
"Well…. maybe. Like Lana"
They laughed again.

"Lana? From transfig? She's.. fucking weird madge, like all doom and gloom like it's a look"
"But she's sooo cool"
"Is she tho? I don't know. She spends all her time making potions that don't even work thinking she's gonna be the next Severus Snape or something. She once put herself in the infirmary for three days because she drank a potion that she thought would make her read faster. I've even heard people say she's made love potions… but hopefully that's just rumor"

Hope made an approving face
"She could slip me some love potion…. I wouldn't mind"
"Hope! Love potions are illegal as fuck, just owning one could put you away for years"

She put the tips of her index fingers together and looked away guiltily
"No one has to know….."
"All right all right cool it off hothead, just.. promise me you won't drink any of her potions, I am 105% certain none of them are safe for consumption"

"You saying you could resist those eyes"
"Me? I could definitely resist those eyes. I'm not about that"

"About what, her? Or women in general"
"Women men enbies, any of it, all of it. Not about it."
"Huh..."

"What?"

"No it's nothing, I've never met anyone like that. It's just hard to imagine"

"It's hard to imagine someone not being horny about anyone when you are horny about everyone"

"I'm. Not. Horny. About. Everyone! Just some people… if they have pretty eyes… and a cold demeanor."

"You know that not expressing emotion doesn't actually make someone cool right? It just makes them bad at expressing emotion"

Hope looked deeply offended

"Wooow you really gonna come for me like that huh"

"I'm just saying. It's the truth"

"Ok doctor.. date doctor"

"Doctor date doctor?"

"Yeah I said it! Doctor date doctor. I think you should just let me stupidly fall for the wrong people at… at my own leisure"

"Hey I was never gonna stop you"

they took another sip from their beer
"Also… Lana… I'm pretty sure she's dumb as fuck. She used to say she had a signed copy 'Potions by the half blood prince' "
"So?"
"So, it was written posthumously by compiling Snape's old notes and notebooks. He was dead long before it was first printed"

Hope let loose in laughter
"Okay but that's an honest mistake let's be real"

"But hey, at least she's pretty"
"She is, she really is pretty, dangerously so"

"Have you always known, that you uh swing both ways so to speak"
"Yeah more or less, I don't think there was ever any confusion for me on that topic. Well, maybe some confusion, but it was never… I never thought I was straight, I just had to figure out what it was that I was. And that turned out to be disaster bisexual"
they both laughed

"Disaster bi? Is that the proper term?"

"It is for me!"

"Hmmm, yeah I guess that checks out"

"Have you always known, that you… I guess swing in no way"

"Yeah kinda, for a long time I just… thought maybe I just wasn't that interested in relationships, or maybe that I hadn't met the right person, I never really thought of it that much and then I encountered a description of what ace is and just went 'oh that's me' "

"That's one way to do it"

"Yep. Coming out was… fine I guess, but then as trans you gotta come out twice also"

"Yeah, I hear ya"

She put down her beer

"My mom wasn't… great with my transition. She keeps saying like: it's bad out there being black as it is. Being black and woman is putting a target on your back"
Fen scoffed

"As if you had a choice"
"Exactly! I'm pretty convinced she still thinks it would be safer if I had stayed in the closet"
Fen took a sip

"Well…. technically she's not wrong. But I mean safe isn't.. you can be safe and still "
"And still not be you"
"Yeah.. precisely. Being safe but not being you is… it's not a life"
"I'd cheer to that"
They clinked their beers together

"But luckily I had my other parents also. My mom was very supportive albeit in her neurotic way about it. Like all up in the details like "what about this, have you thought about that, read this" et cetera… not that she ever opposed the transition she was just very… I guess obsessive about it"

she paused, then smiled

"But my dad… man he's a fucking rock. Not only was he fully there, like, emotionally. He .. he said this thing to me like, gosh I'd never forget it it was something like 'I always thought there was something missing, and I kept worrying about it 'cause I couldn't figure out what it was and… know I know. This was the missing part, this you that you are now this is the best you' "

"Fuck madge. Your dad is some dad alright"
"Yah, he really is"
"How 'bout you. Did your parents take it well when transitioned"
"Uhmm…. Yeah I guess. I mean, at the point I realized I was enby they kinda had just like… checked out from trying to micromanage my life or whatever so it was more like 'oh another thing' or… I don't know. They kinda just took it in stride without really reacting to it."
Hope fell quiet, looking into her beer. Then looking up

"That sucks madge"

"Does it? I don't know. I think it could be a lot worse"

"It's kinda funny because I know my dad wanted a boy, and I'm pretty sure my mom wanted a girl.. so of course I just fucking swerved onto both lanes of disappointing both"

"Hey… I'm sure that's not true. You're their child, whatever your gender is isn't gonna change that."

"Yeah maybe. Probably. Whatever"
she took of her ring that she was wearing and put it on the counter next to them

"Here" she said
They picked up the ring and looked at it, there was an inscription on it

"Know thyself" they read out loud

"Know thyself"
They handed the ring back to her

"I got it as a gift from my mimi after I transitioned, to remember, the strength of knowing who you are"

"Huh, well, I…. sure, yeah"

"And isn't that true, that if you can be anything, then be yourself"
Fen exhaled in disbelief

"Yeah, I guess…. If only you know what 'yourself' is"

"I think you know, I think everyone knows that on some level"
"I…. wish I could believe that, I truly do"

"But like, when you transitioned, didn't you have the feeling of uncovering something pure and true. Unburdened by pretense, like being able to breathe for the first time"

"Hmmm I mean, it sounds nice when you say it, but, for me it was more like, taking off a wet sock. Like, just getting rid of an annoyance. Like, me coming out surprised no one, I was never very gender role conforming. Switching to the right pronouns felt good, sure, but…. that's about it."

"Huh"

Hope took a swig of her beer and diverted her eyes forward over the bar

"I guess the experience can be quite different"
"Yeah, I guess so"

The bar was fairly crowded and noisy. Someone just walked in, looking lost in thought with earphones in. A group of people at the other end of the bar seemed to recognize him, and tried to get his attention by trying to wave at him, shouting his name. It didn't work, they started laughing and kept shouting his name. Shouting. Shouting his name. One name over and over, shouted, shouted. Suddenly another name echoed in the background, that name, that name, but where did that come from? They looked around. No one else was shouting, but then at the corner of their eye they caught the glimpse of a little kid. That can't be right, there shouldn't be any children here. They turned their head and the kid was gone. In their ears a ringing was slowly escalating ringing and the the roomed rocked under their feet

"Fen? Fen? Fenuha? Are you there?" Hope inquired with a voice that seemed muted

"Oh uh sorry I just … I.. sorry, I just need some air." they left for the exit

Shortly after they got out of the pub Hope pursued them

"Are you okay? What happened"

"Nothing, nothing happened. I'm fine, just a little queasy . Probably shouldn't have had the curry for lunch. Alcohol and spicy don't mix well, that's all. Just… a stupid mistake"

"…are you sure"

"Yea! Don't worry about it, go save our seats I'll be there in a minute"

Hope looked hesitant

"Go!" They ushered her away with a wave.
As soon as she was out of sight they apparate away as far as they could, into the woods. They let out a small scream and breathed heavily with palms resting on their knees. They flicked their wand in a circle and conjured a small mound of snow on the ground. They fell to their knees and crushed the snow tightly in their fist. The cold and pain shoot up into their wrists, grounding them back to their body. They took some snow and rubbed it over their face and scalp. Took several deep breaths before bringing out their cloud and setting it to mirror mode, using their wand to erase any signs of crying from their face, and then apparated back.

Night owls and gym rats

They were looking straight ahead into the vision cloud, a lit night highway through a red desert, in their earphones electronic house music, pulsing with abstract tingling tones in a rapid tempo. Sweat was dripping, their thighs were starting to burn. Let go. Lose yourself. Focus on the pain and the contraction of muscles.

Suddenly someone tapped on their shoulder, they jerked up in fright and turned around. It was Marv.

"Are you gonna hog the cycles all night?"
They looked around, there were noticeably no one else but the two of them in the vacantly empty gym. Funny.

"Fuck madge you scared the shit out me. What are you doing here, the gym is closed"
"Well, look who's talking. Im guessing you weren't let in by a professor "
"No, not exactly that no. I was let in by the lock being piss easy to disenchant. Same as you Im guessing"

"Yep. Hey I wont tell if you don't tell"

"It's a deal. So what is compelling enough to have you break into a closed gym at 11 PM?"

"It's the playoffs, they start tomorrow"

"Dude are you fucking… go sleep , what are you doing here? You need to be fully rested."

"Yeah yeah thanks for the tip coach. I just… couldn't sleep anyway, might as well tune my pitch a little bit. And you? Why the fuck are you here?"

"Same as you I guess. Couldn't sleep, for….whatever reason"

"Still with the sleep problems huh?"

"Well.. if you wanna call it that. I think I'm just a night owl that's all"

"Yeah…. maybe"

"You wanna do some benches, take turns spotting?"

"Nah I'm gonna stay in the sim"

"God you're useless"

"Useless to you, but valuable to the team"

he hit them up with finger guns
"I'd attest to that. Man I don't even get how you get the nerves, you have the best throw people have seen in years. I think you're good here."
"Yes I have the best throw… because I practice it.
"Can't really argue with that logic… but seriously, you're a fucking cannon dude. Remember the semis from two years ago? You scored a point from midline, I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that. Like ever."
"That was a bad play"

"How was that a bad play? It was fucking sick madge, and you won the game"

"Being a good quidditch player is not about the big plays, It's about consistency. You can luck out on a bad play or have a good play turn to absolute shit, but if you keep consistently making the right calls it will even out over time, and you will win more than you lose."

"I mean sure, but that's gotta be the most boring explanation of quidditch I have heard"

"How is it boring? It's how you beat the game madge, you beat the game by understanding the rules. not the actual literal rules but the rules that are told by the results, the stats"

"Sure.."

"Like do you know why Ludvik is considered the best player in the world?"

"No but I feel like you're gonna tell me"

"Consistency. He always delivers. His average of shots at the goalrings is 14.5, with a median of 13. That's insanely consistent"

Fen laughed

"Man you're such a fucking dork dude, I'd bully you if you weren't built like an ogre, you'd probably snap me in half"

"Ogre? I'm not that buff.

"Are you kidding me? You are without a doubt that buff. Honestly you've put on even more bulk since last year. What did you do all summer? Roll a boulder up a hill?"

"Not that far off actually. I did a lot of outdoor climbing"

"Climbing? Just like climbing up ..mountains, or…?"

"Yeah yeah it's like a muggle thing, doing stuff outdoors like trekking or whatever but more you know.. vertical" He gestured a vertical line in the air
"God muggles really come up with the most far fetched things to entertain themselves"
"Honestly I think they got it pretty figured out. It feels really nice, our bodies are the same as theirs you know. We're in the same flesh. Meant to move "
"Oooh kay I didn't know you were such a mughead"
"You should try it sometime, it's nourishment for the soul"
"Cool…. I think my soul will be nourished just fine. I do my own excursions"
"Apparating"
"Yeah! You know, using magic, like a mage"

"You can't only practice magic, mind and body are one you know, you can't separate them"
"That sounds really cheesy…. and I'm here aren't I? This is a gym isn't it?"
"Yeah yeah I didn't mean… I know you put in the work, just.. It's important to remember"
Fen sighed
"I'll try madge… I'll try… hey turn around for a sec"

Marv obliged
"Dude your lats are coming in nice. You look sculpted as hell"
"Thanks madge. I like your forearms, they're getting some real definition"
"Aw thanks, I've been really working on that. I'm no Hercules like you but it's something… I really don't understand how you're still single, you should be drowning in pussy …or, maybe you are seeing someone?"
"Nah, not right now. I… just don't think it's the right time. The last school year, the playoffs .. stuff."

"Madge, it's never gonna be the right time. You just got to, like, embrace the wrongness and roll with it. There's always gonna be something up ahead. Life happens in the moments where you wait for life to happen "
"Hmm… I don't know"
"You should ask out Hope, the exchange student. I swear she'd be all over you. Just.. .be aware she might forget how to speak when you speak to her, and also don't make it obvious that I told you or she's gonna strangle me in my sleep"

"She sounds like quite the real catch"
"She is quite the catch, for real for real. She is really smart and just the sweetest thing"
"Sound like maybe you should ask out"
"Bruh… I'm ace, remember? I don't do that"

"Well you're ace, but not aro, you still get crushes right?"

"Yeah…. I just don't have one on her. Don't get me wrong, I like her, a lot. But I'm not in love with her"

"You sure?"
"Yes. Hundo percent. We're not gonna be a couple, you don't have to worry about that happening"

A book within a book

They and Hope were on the way down to the great hall after class for lunch, just as they approached the stairs they heard someone call out from behind

"Hey Fen!"

they turned around, it was Lana. Pale foundation, thick eyeliner, a lace choker and a piercing with a tiny purple gemstone in her right nosewing. She was wearing a slightly oversized band t shirt.

"What's up?"

"I… actually wanted to talk to your friend. Hope was it right?"

Hope was dumbstruck and there was panick in her eyes as her brain seemed to make a shut down noise

Fen gently bumped her with their elbow, "Hope?"

"Uhm.. yes I'm Hope… I, that is me yes…. pleased to meet you Lana!" she reached out her hand

Lana smiled, looking at her somewhat amused before shaking her hand in a somewhat jokingly exaggerated way

"Uh yeah, nice to meet you too, Hope"

she continued

"I actually wanted to ask you something, professor Langerhan had saved your polylingualine sample, it had an excellent deep orange hue, even deeper than mine…"

"Oh! …oh? She did? I didn't know that"

"You changed the poppy oil to volcanic salt ratio right? That's the only way that could have worked?"

"Right! Yes, yes the salt, yes I did change it"

"... so what did you change it to? Because it wasn't 3 to 7 that's for sure"

"what did I… what I did I.. wait I scribbled it down in my book, hold on"

she reached into her port pouch and pulled out a book and started frantically shift trough the pages

"hold on, hold on…"

"Uh Hope" Fen intervened

"what?"

"That's your charms book. I presume you wrote it in your potions book"

she flipped closed the book and looked at the cover, she almost seemed like she was about to faint

"...ah! Oh I, duh, I'm stupid, of course… wait.."

she started pulling out book after book stacking them on top of another until eventually, inevitably, she dropped them sending them all tumbling down the stairs.

she gasped

"Oh no no no no!"

she ran after them, Fen and Lana followed her and started helping gathering the avalanche of literature.

"No please please please Mrs. Ainsworth will kill me!"

"What's the matter? It's just school litterature, no one cares"

She held up one of the books looking at it from different angles

"They're not all just school books, this" she demonstratingly held out the book

"is literally antique! I loaned it for my… for my research"

Fen read the title

"...Hogsfield Population Census from 756 to 999?"

"Yes! And thank god it's ok!"

they handed her the rest of the books

"Oh here's the last one" Lana picked one up and handed it to Hope. It was a small almost brick shaped book with a red cover, with no text on the cover but a nine sided star within a circle, and in the center of it a hand with an eye on the palm.

Hope looked at it confused

"...this is not mine. I've never seen it before"

"Well it fell out of your pouch, so it must be yours. Did you get your potion book?"

"Oh right! Fen could you hold this"

she reached out the census boon towards them. As they received it they noticed it didn't close properly. They opened the boom and noticed that the middle portion of a page had opened up like a lid, and beneath it was a small box shaped port space, big enough to fit… well, a book. They reached their hand inside of it but it was empty.

"...oh here we go! I… used a… 7 to 13 ratio"

"Oh… that's bold, I gotta give you that, I like your style, Hope. But I can't let you take the title queen of potions from me"

"literally no one calls you that Lana" Fen remarked

"They don't have to"

Fen sighed and put his face in his hand. Lana.

"Well thanks for your trouble, see ya!"

and she was gone

"Oh no.. oh no, oh no!" Hope exclaimed in a desperate voice

"...what? The book is fine"

"Never mind the book! Lana! She must think I'm a klutz idiot!"

"Well… you're definitely not an idiot"

"but…?"

"Look, she's clearly impressed by you, you nailed that potion thing and she took notice... that's good! Don't over-read into it"

"I don't know" she sighs "I don't know…"

"On another note, that mystery book, I think it fell out of your census book"

"What?"

"Yeah yeah it looks like there was a hidden compartment, look, give it to me"

they sat down and opened the page where part of a page opened up into a port space, the smaller red book fit perfectly into it.

"A book within a book.. but why? Why hide that book?"

"I don't know"

Back at the common room they both sat down reading, Hope read the census and Fen scrolled through the red brick

"Finding anything?"

"No.. it's all incomprehensible, it's some foreign language… and some unknown alphabet. How about you?"

"No nothing new.. nothing that would explain why that book is hidden in there"

they tossed over the book to her

"Well… stranger things have happened. Just a weird ass stove away book… this castle is full of curiosities that are… way stranger than that"

"Yeah I suppose…. but it is strange"

"Why were you reading a population census anyway? That seems way off track to your whole… mythical artifact hunting"
"Well, magic is older than Hogwarts right? So then the SOAP must also be, which means if the SOAP is at Hogwarts it might have been here before Hogwarts was founded."
"I guess that makes sense… but still tho, a population census? "

"I'm just shooting broad! The SOAP is really sought after right? So all the places it makes sense to look must already been searched through, so then you should look through the places were it doesn't make sense"
"That is either genius or absolutely demented, I can't tell which"
Hope gave them a dirty look

"But hey I applaud your commitment, you're really giving this your all that's for sure… whatever this is"
"Thank you! Besides, it hasn't been entirely useless, do you know where the censuses were held?"
"Uhm… I'm guessing not Hogwarts.. since it wasn't built yet"

"Exactly! They were held in a chapel, that supposedly stood on Hogwarts grounds"
"Oh that's cool, but then… where is it now?"
"I don't know, it's not still here that's for sure"

"Well, yeah. The Hogwarts grounds is notably missing a chapel"

"But it's still interesting, right? Like, small bits and pieces of Hogwarts history"

"Uhm yeah, sure. Interesting, you could call it that."

"I am convinced there is so much more to learn from the books kept here, if only I… if only I keep reading I might strike out lucky… eventually"

"I… well, yeah. Sure. Like, if this is your thing, you really got nothing to lose here, just keep at it."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do. You go for it"

A lesson in history

"Now…" the magical history teacher professor Garagar began, a young goblin in his early 60s, he still had the energetic theatrical performance usually seen with newer teachers, he always seemed excited to teach, which Fen always found a bit baffling as history is just all so…. boring.

"...let's start the lesson with an interesting question: how old is magic?"

There was a notably silent response

"Anyone? No? Well it's a bit of a trick question isn't it. We don't think of it that way, because there's always been magic. And that's also the answer: Magic is as old as the universe, it's one of the fundamental forces that binds reality. Some even believe that magic predates the universe itself…. but that's a discussion for another day."

he chuckled knowingly

"But let me hit you with a simpler question: how old is magic by humans? How old… is the mage?"
There were a couple hands in the air
"Ah I see, this one is easier. Yes you" he pointed to one of the students

"3000 years?"

"3000 years! Is the answer, give or take, depending on whose writing you're studying. And it all started in…." he gestured to the class
"South America"

"Yes! More precisely north central South America, likely somewhere in modern day Peru. This is where the first known instance of human casting occurred, done by the the Alkor, colloquially known as the first mages

Their spells were for a long time mostly used in agriculture and to some extent healing until a point around 700 BC where the complexity of spells and artifacts suddenly skyrocketed…

can anyone tell me why that is? Why did they suddenly become much stronger in magic after hundreds of years of casting?"

Fen was half listening half daydreaming, but the question caught their attention. Why… how would you, significantly, increase your magical power?

One of their classmates at second row hesitantly raised her hand

"Yes, Flowers?"

"...wands?"

"Yes! Wands! That is exactly right. Very good. Or to be precise, two-part core and sheath wands, as we use them today. Before that they casted wandless, and for some period with staffs and possibly orbs. But once wands were invented their civilization flourished, as wands can help channel one's magical power up to 10 times more efficiently."

"But it was after discovering wands the really interesting part happened. Up to this point all hunan casting had been localized to central South America and only central South America. But then in less than only two or three hundred years it spread across the globe to be omnipresent. This is what is referred to as the 'The Surge' and there still isn't a consensus as to why or how it happened. Some think it was a natural phenomenon, induced by the greater amount of magic channeled by wands. Some think it was purposefully caused by the Alkor through some sort of ancient arcane technology, and some insist it was just a random event completely unrelated to the Alkor or their wands. But regardless of which, the knowledge of how to make and use wands definitely originated from the Alkor and spread directly from them at a much slower pace than the use of magic."

a hand was raised and he affirmed them to ask their question

"But how did the Alkor get magic in the first place?"

"That is a great question, unfortunately, much like with The Surge the only real answer is that we don't know. Not for sure at least. We think that magic powers may have developed through ingestion of some kind of magical plant or animal as a part of diet. Which honestly is the most likely explanation, as we've seen this happen in other magical creatures. Yet many believe in the so-called progenitor hypothesis: that they were gifted magic from another far more powerful magical being. Which is certainly technically possible, if you believe in God that is."

Students exchanged puzzled looks at the word God, one of them asked out loud

"...God?"
"Yes, yes, God. See the progenitor hypothesis hinges that there is, or was, a being so immensely powerful it could gift magical power unto another being. A being that powerful could almost be called god. Maybe not an all-powerful god, as described in some religion, but a god like being. We do not currently know of such a being, so making the assumption that it exists requires quite the… leap of faith. So the hypothesis isn't wrong per se it just lacks some necessary pieces"

another hand was raised

"Yes, you"

"Is it possible they gained power from an object, like an artifact, that was powerful enough to emanate magic energy to everyone?"

Garagor smiled

"Oh…. I think we've watched the same show last Tuesday. Show of hands, how many watched Conjurers Corner with Harry Potter?"

Almost everyone in the room raised their hand

"So… you are of course talking about the source of all power, the SOAP as it is called, something Harry Potter admittedly has been obsessed with for quite a while."
He smiled

"Ok, but this is a great learning opportunity, let's think critically about this. What are the limitations of the idea. First off… the most obvious, where is it? If it does exist to give us power it must be located somewhere, sure it could be hidden away…. but where would you hide it? Hmmn? Some say it's in an ancient tomb, or in an underwater city, or even here at Hogwarts… but the problem is… it couldn't stay hidden. It simply couldn't. The amount of energy it would contain would cause a global spell signature, and It'd be like a siren going off in at least a 100 km radius for anyone out to detect magic. "

"Know the second problem, which is equally important…. If I put it this way, let me ask you this: In what type of container would you store the sun?"

The class was expectedly baffled, not really a question you can have an answer for. He continued:

"There isn't one, right? That's the obvious answer. And a similar problem occurs with the SOAP, the amount of magical energy has to be contained within something, else it couldn't be an object that physically exists. The most powerful known magical artifact contain less than… less than a fraction of fraction of what the SOAP would have, so no amount of mages could contain it and no object can hold it"

The class was notably silent, some were looking notably disappointed and the professor noted the reaction

"I'm not gonna say it's impossible, we do live in a world of magic after all, what is possible and impossible can be surprisingly fluid, I just want you to think for yourself, critically. If the SOAP is what sparks your curiosity, then be curious, by all means. Even myths are worth entertaining. "

He stroked his chin in contemplation

"Well then… now where was I…. magic comes from… hum hum hum… ah yes. So the Alkor were the first mages… but unlike most magical beings they were not their own species rather they were in some way spliced from humans.

Mages and muggles have the same DNA, we are entirely the same species. Which is different to for example horses and unicorns who come from separate lineages. And while the modern human species as we know it today has been around for roughly 200 000 years, the earliest known human use of magic occurred… well as we've now established only about 3000 years ago. And mages and humans are still separate, but not separate species.

When we look at magical power we see that it follows three main inheritance patterns: direct inheritance: IE a mage is born from at least one mage parent, nullification, or "squib-birth": where a non-mage is born from at least one mage parent, and finally spontaneous manifestation: where a mage is born from two muggle parents.

For a long time it was believed that except for direct inheritance the patterns were completely random. But it was proven in 2053 by the Nobel Price in Arcane Arts awardee Dr. Janinka Zima that there is a to some degree predictable pattern, which we now know as The Zima Algorithm. It is far more complicated than we have time for today but in essence we know that both squib births and spontaneous manifestation increase in areas where magic is used to a greater extent."

He looked up at the watch over the door

"Aaand that is all we have time for today. If you wanna look up the Zima algorithm I recommend that you do. It's really fascinating, you don't have to understand it! Just take a look"

Sleep Disturbance

They were walking through the woods, a gray fog laid thick over the ground and the air felt thick and heavy to breathe. Walking felt slow like stepping in deep mud, going forward in slow motion, bogged down. In the background they heard an old tune playing

I was five and he was six

We rode on horses made of sticks

They forced themselves forwards, each step seemed heavier than the last

He wore black and I wore white

He would always win the fight

They approached a figure of small stature facing away, they called for it at the top of their lungs but no sound came from their mouth, it was a muted scream that called no attention, and the figure didn't move

Bang bang, he shot me down

Bang bang, I hit the ground

More and more desperately they kept calling, but still no sound came. They forced themselves to the knee deep mud but hardly came any closer with each step

Bang bang, that awful sound

Bang bang, my baby shot me down

Then, they were suddenly there. Standing right in front of them, starting into each other's eyes as if they had stood there still for several minutes. Its face was distorted,looking like it had melted, covered in green craggy skin and with empty black eyes.

"Will you play with me?" it asked

"No… I told you, no! I never wanted this" they desperately tried to explain
"But you promised"
"NO, I … this wasn't how it was supposed to happen, it's not"

"You promised….you promised"

The calling of a name grew louder and louder in the background, echoing as in reverb, while the forest got darker and darker and tighter and tighter, closing in like a death trap, swallowing them. Drowning, suffocating. There's no time, there's no time.

Fen woke up with a heart racing like they were running a marathon, pounding painfully against their chest. They were covered in sweat. A dream, just a dream. It had been a while since the last time, guess they still aren't going away. But at some point they must. Surely.

Hope and Fen were sitting in the common room, the hour was late and they were the last two ones there. Fen was somewhat dreading going to sleep after last night. They were just idly chatting about unimportant things. The conversation died out, and they were simply watching the fire burn in its hearth. The suddenly, Hope broke the silence:

"Who's Nathan?" she asked, surprisingly direct

They felt a deathly chill crawling up from their stomach grasping at their chest and throat

"Whu.. what? "

"You were calling it out in your sleep last, it seemed… like a nightmare"

"Oh… well, you know. It can be like that sometimes. A name just gets stuck in your head for whatever reason, I don't even remember. It's whatever, it's just a dream: dreams don't mean anything. "

"Oh.. ok. Just a random name then"

"Yeah… yeah exactly, nothing more to it"

they both sat in silence for a moment, until Hope spoke

"So who's Nathan, really"

the chills returned, they felt their heart beginning to race, and the world shifted as if suddenly seen through a fish lens, all too real yet somehow not feeling real at all. They stood up abruptly

"I told you it's nothing! Can you fucking chill?! Not.. everything is something that you need ok?!"

"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, I was just trying to.."

"Trying to get involved in something that doesn't need your fucking involvement. For fuck's sake… maybe, maybe you should try a little less sometimes"

they exhaled forcefully a couple of times their involuntarily clenched fists were shaking

"Whatever. I'm… going to the bathroom"

and then they promptly left before she could reply. They barely registered that she looked hurt. Whatever.

They walked into the bathroom and once there splashed their face with cold water, looking at themself in the mirror, there was a faint ringing in their ears. They breathed in. Breathed out. Then walked into a stall and vomited into the toilet.

Kill your darlings

They had just come back from taking a shower after a workout, their body felt tired and heavy and relaxed. They went down to the common room, they saw Hope sitting on one end of a couch reading. They threw themselves down next to her.

"How's reading? Population censuses as riveting as before?"
She looked up with some defiance in her eyes

"Actually I'm not into that anymore"
She flashed the cover of the book she was reading, the cover read "Fantastic Beasts That Once Were, by Newt Scamander"

"Wait… what? You're reading crypto-paleontology now? Like what, you think the SOAP… is a beast?"
"No, I've actually abandoned the SOAP"
"Oh… just like that huh?"
"Yeah…. It's as they say: kill your darlings"
"They say that?"
"Yeah it's like a… research expression. When you get too attached to an idea that might mean you need to let go of it , because you might be biased towards it and it could hold you back"

"I guess that makes sense… so if not for the SOAP why are you reading this"

"I'm… looking into The Progenitor Hypothesis"
"Oh yeah.. that thing Professor Garagar talked about in class… that thing, totally the uh progenitor…. what was it again?"
She laughed

"Do you ever pay attention?"
"It happens, occasionally"

"The Progenitor Hypothesis is the idea that magic was gifted to humans by another magical entity"

"Oh, like Prometheus and the fire… but with less liver eating"

"You could say that sure"
"So same reason as before then? You want to figure out the giving so you could give magic to muggles in the same way"
"Yeah, pretty much"

"So what have you got this far?"

"Have you heard of the Zaitsev Principle?"
"At this point you're just making up words"

"I'm not! It's the correlation between size and magical ability. The bigger a thing is the stronger it tends to be in magic"
"Being big… makes you strong in magic? But that's not true is it, like giants aren't that strong in magic"
"Actually it's the other way around. Magical power enables a large body size. The magic of the giants is that they can sustain their metabolism and structural integrity despite their size, their magic allowed them to grow big. It's the same thing with dragons, sure their main use of magic is their fire breath, but they also use magic to fly otherwise their wings would never carry their body weight considering their size"

"Huh, I guess that… checks out. Honestly I can't tell"

"It does, it's very consistent, especially for creatures larger than 5 tons"

"So that's what you're getting at? Just looking for the biggest baddest thing out there?"
"Yeah I mean, it makes sense right?"
"I mean, I'm just barely with you here, if it makes sense to you then it's probably legit yeah, I'd trust your gut here"
"Hmm, I hope you're rightl"
"So what creatures make the mark, like, the worldbreakers or something like that?"
"The worldbreakers would be a good fit yeah, they were the ancestors of modern dragons and they were absolutely enormous, but… the time period doesn't fit. They died out way before the inception of human magic. It's the same thing with angels, from what we have records of"

"So….what's left"

"Well… there's the leviathans"
"The leviathans? Those giant monstrous… whale thingies? Are they uh, are they real?"

"Well they could be… whales would be a good bet right? Whales are already large, so a magical whale…"
She flipped through the pages of her book

"Look what Newt says about them 'The Leviathans, truly a beast of myth and legend, large enough to dwarf a blue whale in comparison, and mighty enough to surely put the strongest modern day wizard to shame. Although there is unfortunately no concrete evidence of these magnificent creatures in the form of remains and such, the fact that they appear so much the same in stories across all cultures of the Earth for such a long time tells a story in itself. What a different place our world must have been when it was theirs to roam."

"That dude really loved his monsters huh"

"Yeah, but he clearly did believe they existed"

"Isn't that kinda… proof by authority or whatever. If the monster guy says it is then it is"
"Yeaah… kinda. But he did know his shit, that's for sure. He also predicted the existence of angels like 100 years before could actually prove their existence using combine tech"

"Huh…. have you talked to the beast mastery professor about it? Professor Beaufort? I'm sure she would gladly give some pointers"
"I actually did yeah. She was… not exactly on board with the whole 'leviathans being real' idea, but… she did give me a reference. Doctor Mayra Sosa, she is the leading authority on extinct gigafauna. If anyone would know more about the leviathans it's her. I've been trying to get a hold of her but it hasn't been very easy, I suppose she's pretty busy. And also she lives in Peru so the time difference is a bit bothersome"
"Sounds like you've got a good lead… hey by the way have you gotten any further with the mystery book? The one that fell out of the other book"
"No, I've been trying to decipher it but I'm getting absolutely nowhere. I took it to the library and Ainsworth just said that it didn't belong there, probably been misplaced or something"

She reached into her pouch and pulled it out, she looked at the cover and stroked it absentmindedly, opened it and flipped through the pages.

"It's obviously written in another language but, I've been trying to scan it but with no result so I don't know if it's encrypted also"
"We should take it to Lovegood"
"The headmaster? Really?"
"Yeah, she'll be thrilled, she loves weird and odd things. We should go right now… or wait, let me check her nap schedule"
"...her nap schedule?"

"Yeah she only sleeps 4 hours per night and takes several naps during the day, during the naps she is 100% non responsive"

They pulled out their cloud and checked the school intraweb

"Ok if we go in 15 minutes should be good"
"Great!"
"But wait a minute…. the leviathans were whales right? How did they like, get in contact with the first mages? Because the first mages lived inland and a creature that big could likely get nowhere near the shore so… unless they happened to be seafarers then…"
"Yeah… that is a bit of a conundrum. I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something, maybe it wasn't the leviathans after all, but anyways... If i just talk to Doctor Sosa I'm sure some things will clear up"

A visit to the headmaster

"Hmmm… hmmm, ah.. ." Professor Lovegood sat behind her desk turning the book back in forth in her hands. She was barely visible behind the piles of books, potted plants and strange trinkets on her desk.

Her office was dimly lit, with only three actual lamps but with countless of small lights floating in the air. In the middle of it stood a giant blue gray cactus with several different kinds of flowers sprouting from it. It acted like some sort of center for what looked like a planetarium for different objects: books, plants, a watering can, a sandwich and a lot more levitated in orbit around it.

"Yes, yes… I see , exactly" she put down the book on her desk and looked up at them

"Do you… uh, do you know what it is?"

"I don't have the slightest idea"

"Oh… "

"But that's the fine thing with knowledge: what doesn't fit in your head can easily fit in the head of another. I believe there is someone here at Hogwarts that isn't me but is in possession of the knowledge that you seek"

She paused and stroked her chin in contemplation

"Well technically they aren't actually at Hogwarts, but..!"

She looked up and pointed towards them enthusiastically

"You could still fairly easily, and comfortably, get a hold of her, because she happens to live in Hogsmeade. Quite a bright mind she is, and as well read as they come. She used to be the librarian's assistant, but is retired now. Anyways, her name is Rose and she probably knows the contents of our library better than anyone ever has"

"Oh… I didn't even know the librarian had an assistant"

"She doesn't! …not anymore at least, it was a different time back then… but anyways, here let me write down her address for you"

"Thanks! Oh, one more thing: do you know of a chapel that once stood on Hogwarts grounds? I read about but, but I'm not sure"

"An old chapel, that possibly predates Hogwarts…? Hmm, hmmmm…. no no I don't think I've heard of it. But it's possible, anything is possible really, especially here at Hogwarts grounds… when I take my 4 AM morning walks in the woods I can always tell the presence of magical beings: jarlcruxes, hopslithers and gueys. Which is unsurprising, this place does after all, of course, lie on a faering intersection, where the border between planes is weakened. So someone wanting to build a chapel on a magical place then Hogwarts grounds would be a pretty good place for it."

"All right thank you for your help professor"

"Yeah, thank you" they chimed in

"Don't mention it! Now fly, fly on the wings of curiosity wherever it takes you"

The old librarian's assistant

They paced up and down the stairs at the given address, looking for the right door.

"Did she say her last name?" Hope asked them

"No, just 'Rose' " Fen replied

"Have you checked all the doors?"

"Yeah… nothing with an R on it"

"You think we have the wrong address"

"Well… it wouldn't be entirely out of character for Professor Lovegood to have a mix up… wait!"

"What?"
"Look there's one more door.. up there"

"The attic? But that's like a half door"

they hurried up the stairs

"No look there is a name here.. Rose Frielf, that's gotta be her"

they knocked, and shortly after the door opened. Standing there stood an elf with muted pale pink skin, wearing an old fashioned dress with lace details and a traditional bonnet and circular glasses. Her left arm was a mechanical prosthetic made out of an ivory-like material starting just below the elbow

She looked surprised

"Yes?" she inquired while eyeing them both with a puzzled look

"Oh, hi , sorry to bother you: do you have a moment?"

"That depends entirely on what that moment is for"

"Yes! Of course! Sorry, uhm, my name is Hope" she turned to them

"Uh, and I'm Fen" they raised their hand as a greeting

"...we're students at Hogwarts. We came to ask you about a book, it's for a… project, of sorts. Professor Lovegood put a word out for you, that you could maybe help us out"

"Oh she did. did she?" she chuckled "Oh Luna… well if it's about a book then I always have a moment, why don't you all come inside"

"Oh, you don't have to …."

"Please, I'm not in a hurry to be anywhere, be my guests!"

"All right"

they hunched over and followed her inside

"Oh, let me take care of that. I don't get a lot of tall folks visiting"

she snapped her finger twice and fanned her hand upwards, the ceiling and wall wobbled like a soap bubble and stretched out up to leave room for the two humans.

"There you go, that's all better. Care for some tea?"

"That would be lovely thank you"

"Just sit down I'll be right back"

she ushered them towards a group of antique looking chairs centered around a small round table, they sat down and shortly after Rose returned with a tray

"I got you some lemon cakes as well, it's from the local bakery, elf owned, I try to support their business"

"Oh yeah, La Cheminée right?"

"Yes exactly"

she put down the tray, and handed them their tea. The one she held with her mechanical arm wobbled a little and spilled some tea onto the saucer.

"Oh there she goes, sorry about that, this arm isn't all what it should be"

"That's quite alright… may I ask what happened?"

"You may, you may. It's quite the grim tale I'm afraid"

"Oh, I… don't want to bring up something that bothers you, but if you want to tell it, we'll listen"

she looked away and sighed with her whole body

"Well it was way, way, back in the day… in the late 1800s before I started working at Hogwarts. I tried to run away from my masters, and they caught me. As punishment, and deterrent, they gave me the choice between having them cut off my hand or my ears. It's not much of a choice really, ears are important to elves, it's the main feature we recognize each other by."

"That's terrible! How could they, how could they do that to you?"
"Because they made us out to be monsters… and having us enslaved they told us was mercy compared to having us killed. "
"But, how..? How could anyone ever think of you as monsters? "
"Oh… you sweet child. It doesn't take much to make people afraid of something that is 'the other'. It was 'common knowledge' that elves would sneak into human homes and impersonate humans to steal away children or any other imagined crime. Of course it had never happened, but that doesn't stop the stories. All to build the narrative of a primitive inferior race with dangerous urges best kept under control"

"I'm …. so sorry that happened to you."
"I'm sorry too child, I am sorry to"
She moved around the fingers of her prosthetic arm looking at it thoughtfully. She sighed deeply.

"I was the last generation of runners… that was before they started with the… indoctrination"

Hope and Fen exchanged confused looks

"I, I'm sorry I don't understand. What do you mean with 'indoctrination' "

"They discovered that if you take elves real young, and start telling them things, using magic to implant fake memories, you could eventually make them think that being a slave is a good thing, actually"
"That…. actually happened? They really did that to you?"

"They sure did, I was there to see it happen. They don't really like to talk about it much in the history books, well, not in the ones written by humans at least. And it's not really hard to see why"
"Jesus fucking christ…. if anyone should be called monsters it's the humans"
"No, I don't agree with that, I don't like calling them monsters. Because stating that they are non human lets you distance yourself from them, it allows you to not empathize with them. When in reality these are the people you should try to understand the most, not because they're different from you, but because they're just like you. Anyone is capable of commiting horror, and you have to the duty to not let it happen again. To not be the next person that does it, or allows it to happen"

"Huh…"

they both fell silent and looked away, taking in the gravity of it all

"I know it's a lot, didn't mean to lay it on too heavy on you"

"No, please, this is important. Your story is import… and it needs to be told."

"Yeah… we are grateful that you chose to open up and share this"

"Well I didn't mean to bring the mood down, let's take a look at that book shall we?"

"Oh yes, of course!"

Hope pulled out the book from her pouch and handed it to Rose, she adjusted her glasses and look at it closely

"Well this is…. quite something"

she flipped through the pages

"This language…"

"Do you know it?"

"No, I have never seen it before, but I can tell you that it is an ancient language of magi. This book may be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old"

"Thousands? But it doesn't look old"

"That's because it multiple enchantments of preservation cast on it, whoever created this book wanted it to last"

"Huh… and the symbols on the cover?"

"Well, the eye-in-palm is an ubiquitous spiritual symbol, and the nine sided star in a circle is probably a type of spell rune. I guess it tells us this is a magic book, of some greater importance."

She ran her finger across a page, turned the page back and forth inspecting it, then leaned in and sniffed it with a thoughtful expression

"Judging from the material it's not from around here, the compound wood traces in the paper would place it somewhere around central or south america"

"What do you think it's for?"
"Uhm… following the patterns and inscription, it looks like to me like a manual of some sort, to create a spell or maybe on how to use a magical object"

She shut the book close and handed it back to them

"That's all I can tell you I'm afraid"

"You've done more than enough, we're very grateful"

"Yes, thank you so much"

"One last thing… if you do manage to translate the book, be careful with its contents. Casting ancient magic can have unforeseen and dire consequences"

"We'll make sure to keep that in mind, thank you"

Hope's face lit up suddenly as if she just remembered something

"Oh, yeah, uhm… just, I asked the headmaster about this but she didn't know the answer; do you know if there was once a chapel on Hogwarts grounds? Like, before Hogwarts. I saw it referenced in a text but not like, described"

"Hmmm, a chapel on Hogwarts grounds? Before Hogwarts? …ah yes, I do seem to remember having read about that but I don't remember where, unfortunately. It was called.. the Chapel of Nine, and was a sacred place for pagan mages, believed to be a gateway to some sort of... higher existence"

"What happened to it?"

"It disappeared at the same time as Hogwarts was founded, so presumably it was leveled to the ground to make space for the castle, maybe some of it was preserved but I highly doubt. Hogwarts was founded during a mage enlightenment and centralization of government, pagan magic was considered backwards or even fraudulent"

"Oh… that's quite sad isn't it?"

"It is, it is. But that is the story of most land, it was once the land of someone else before. Few places are given to us directly by nature, in fact, no places are. It's all taken"

"Well thank you for your help, and your wisdom! This has been really helpful"

"Just glad to help"

greeting Death as an old friend

Fen was sluggishly heading up from the dormitory, just awoken and barely ready for class when surprised by a big crowd in the common room. That's odd, people should be heading to class, why are they here.

A crowd was centered around a cloud showing the news. A newscaster was reading out loud in a a precise and serious tone, and the people watching him seemed disturbed and full of gloom.

Fen approached one of them cautiously

"Hey what's…." they said in a soft voice but got interrupted by a hush followed by a pointing towards the screen. The newscaster read:

"...and it is with great sorrow we report that national hero and beloved husband and father Harry Potter died peacefully in his sleep this morning. Our sources tell us this was entirely from natural causes and without any magical interference. Reaching the age of 77 he had lived a full life with an incomparable impact on our society, he will be missed and remembered dearly by many of us"

Fen's felt a void fill up their chest

"Holy shit" they exclaimed quietly

For real, he was gone, Harry Potter… gone. The boy who lived… now dead. As if this twisted world needed another loss… but here we are. Guess nothing can really be taken for granted, even heroes are mortal.

The sky was evenly light grey with no clouds giving a soft palette like backdrop free from contrasts. The air was humid and just barely chilly but warm for a fall day..

Gathered outside Hogwarts was a sea of black. All the students and teachers, family and friends dressed up to pay their respect on this somber day. Potter had requested to be buried on Hogwarts grounds, and therefore the funeral was also held there. TV crews were also present and they had built a stage with a podium. There were many speeches, grandma Hermione held one of course, Ron Weasley heartwrenchingly broke down crying and couldn't finish his speech, then Professor Lovegood also held one. Next up was Harry Potter's son, Albus Potter. He looked tired and weary as he stepped up to the podium, but his posture still looked confident and composed.

He began his speech speaking slowly, as trying to get over every word as a hurdle

"It's odd… being back here, the place where I had a lot, so much, of my formative years take place. And also knowing this is where my father before me, not only spent a significant time of his life, it was also where his life truly began, where he found his real family, and his purpose in life "

He paused, looking off to the side, collecting himself

"To know this is also where he finds his final rest… feels fitting, It feels appropriate that his first true home is also his last. And by his grave Hogwarts will stand, and continue to be a nexus where great witches and wizards find their place in the world, just as my father did.

And in these trying times, you must never forget that as you have been united under this roof you must stay united, and band together against adversity just as my father did. He knew that a single wand can not change history, but the bundle created by wizards and witches who stand together can. And as long as we hold a wand in our hands we are never powerless.

We must never forget that magic is strength, and we are strong! But, as my father knew well: the gift of magic is not only one of power, but of responsibility. My father knew that the strong must protect the weak and fight to preserve the rightful order of things lest they descend into darkness and chaos.

My father defeated the dark lord Voldemort to maintain order, and defend that order from those that threatened to disrupt it. Yet.. that order has been chipped away since to border the brink of chaos. It is up to us, to restore that order. To use the power given to us by magic to bring back balance and order, and peace! That is the true legacy that Harry Potter has left behind for us..

He always stood up for what he believed was right, from the very beginning of his life to the very end. After all that he has been through he can finally put down his wand and leave the world in our hands, and I like to think that he finally got to go, and greet Death as an old friend."

They went up to the dormitories to get the book on beast mastery they had left there earlier. As they did, they found Hope sitting hunched over on the side of her bed, quietly sobbing. Fen approached her cautiously

"Hey, hey… what's up? Is everything all right?"
"Oh! Oh… hi, uhm.. No it's nothing. It's… it's silly"
"Doesn't seem silly to me, like, I don't care, you can just, tell me. I'm not gonna judge you"
"It's just… it's just… Harry Potter's death really got to me. Even though I, obviously, never knew him personally or anything he's always… been there as a presence throughout my life. In this fucked up world, it always felt like… as long as Harry Potter is around everything is gonna be ok. He was one of the last purely good things in this world, and now he's gone. Forever."

Fen sat down next to her on her bed. They sat in silence for moment

"Yeah, that's… that's rough"
they paused, before continuing

"Like, I'm not in that headspace or whatever, but like, I get that it sucks"

"Yeah it does, it does suck. Sometimes… I feel like the world is getting a little bit darker with each passing day. And it's all on us to carry ... that that responsibility, it's just too much, it's too much!"

Fen placed their hand on Hope's

"It's… it's gonna be ok"

"But how can you say that? How can you know?"

"Like… look, Potter might have been a hero, but he was also just some dude, right? Just some madge like you and me, but he happened to be there and rise to the occasion. There are plenty of mages like him out there… hell I'm looking at one right now"

Hope exhaled in a half laugh half snivel

"I don't know, I don't know… I don't know if I'm particularly… like him"

"You could be. You were gonna save the world, remember?"

she let out another valiant subdued laugh

"Yeah…. I was gonna "
She sighed deeply and looked down on her hands resting in her lap

"I was gonna … but I don't know maybe it's just a stupid dream"
Fen put their hand firmly on her shoulder

"Hope, look at me. Your dream is not stupid. You just happen to be one of the few brave enough to… dare to dream it. You are brave. And that's what Potter's legacy is all about right? Standing brave in the face of adversity"

Hope went in for a sudden hug, embracing them. Fen stiffened up at first by the surprise, but then relaxed their body somewhat and answered the embrace
"Thank you, Fen, for being a good friend"

"Just… doing the what anyone would really"

"Don't say that. You really… show that you care, and I really appreciate that you do. It means a lot "'

"Yeah..." Fen looked down and fidgeted with their hands, somewhat at a loss for words

Hope sighed again

"I know this is a bit fucked up to say but…. I'm glad we get to read his book at least, that he gets one last chance to impart his wisdom on the world. I think we really need it"

"Oh, you didn't hear?"

"What? Hear what?"
"The manuscript went missing, and they don't know where … so yeah, the book can't be released"
"Missing? It just went missing? That is very strange"

"Well… I guess yeah. Stranger things have happened but it is a bit odd for sure."
"Fucking hell, we couldn't even have that … gosh I really hope it turns up "
"I probably will I think, there's always gonna be some level of tumult clearing up people's belonging after the die"

"Yeah, you're right"

The night before it all goes down

Fen was laying sprawled out on a couch in the mostly empty common room listening to music when Hope entered the room and approached them

"Hey"
"'Sup'" they took out their headphones
"You gonna make some room?"
"But I'm comfy…."

"Here just.. you can put your legs on my lap"
"All right "

she nestled herself in, and let out Tomorrow who perched himself on top of their legs, topping the stack of limbs

"You won't believe what just happened"
"What"

"Marvin…"
"No.."
"Yep yep yep. He asked me out"

"Get out! He finally did it?"
"Uh yeah.. what do you mean finally?

"Oh, I just mean, it eventually happened, that's crazy.. but hey that's awesome! I'm real happy for you, when is the date?"

"It's tomorrow, we gonna get coffee, maybe go for walk in Hogsmeade, right after the exams"

"Nice! Are you nervous?"
"Yeah…. I mean I've practiced a lot, I'm pretty sure I've got the basics down, I think I can apparate it's just… it's different under pressure"

"Not the exam you doofus, the date! Are you nervous about the date?"

"Oooh … yeah, well uhm, yeah, of course I am! But like, both. Both are big things right?"
"Yeahhh.. they are, just i two very different ways I guess"
"True, a little of showing up, a little of getting it done"

She leaned back and stroked Tomorrow, he half-closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying himself

"It's crazy everything happening at once suddenly, I… also am gonna meet up with Lana next week to study together "

"See? I told you you are hot shit. This is proof, it's all coming together"

"Hot shit… yeaah I'm not sure that term is… for me. But yeah, fuck, things are really happening. I haven't even have time for my research"

"Oh yeah the uh, pro… uhm, the hypothesis and all that…. hey speaking of, did you get any further with the mystery book?"
"I don't know, I think I'm gonna give up on that thread"

She took it out and looked at it confounded

"It's intriguing, sure, but the probability of it being useful in any way pertaining to the progenitor hypothesis…it's just basically none. Just another weird magical item in a castle full of weird magical items"

"Yeah … there's something about Hogwarts, all of the strangest things just seem to end up here"

"Well it makes sense, doesn't it? A lot of great mages have passed through these halls over the years, and what was it that Lovegood said? It's like a … nexus for.. planes or something"

Fen laughed

"Yeah, like a fairy crossing or some shit. That could definitely be it, fairies don't fuck around"

"Fairies don't fuck around…. ain't that the truth."

Hope leaned back and folded her arms

"AAaaah I can't believe I have an exam and a date tomorrow, like, that's too many things!"
"Why don't we go out right now and do some apping? Just get one of those things out of your head"

"Right now? This late? It's well past nine already, you don't think we'd get in trouble? "

"That's a good point, I should ask a prefect…"
"Hey Amanda" they shouted out to her, as she was lying reading across the room "I'm gonna take the exchange student out to the apparating field, any objections?"
"I literally don't care" she replied without lifting her eyes from her cloud

"We're also gonna hunt unicorns and practice dark magic"
"Knock yourself out" she waved dismissively

They turned back to Hope
"See? We're good. Let's just go through everything one time and then you'll sleep much better, just a quick in and out practice to sort things through"
"Yeah I guess you're right, it would probably feel nice"
"For sure, let's get going! Let's go get our brooms!"

They went down and fetched their brooms and headed out. The castle was dark and almost entirely empty. Once outside they each lit a lumos and attached it to the tip of their brooms like a headlight. They soared over the silent dark forest, there was a light breeze in the air. The apparating field was just outside the grounded zone a couple of 100 meters from the castle, it was just about 5 to 10 minutes of broom flight to get there.

They approached the field, it was an elongated rectangular shape that looked kinda like a horse track, they landed slowly not to misstep in the dark.

"Ok, it's pretty dark, let's do some floating lumos "
"Yeah, uhm I think I can do 3"

"That's all right, I can do 5, it think that'll do"

They conjured the floating balls of lightning and sent them floating out overhead, lighting up the elongated field.

"It's a bit dim but it'll do"

"Yeah I think it's fine, you don't apparate with your eyes"

"You don't apparate with your eyes…. yeah I suppose that's true"

She reached out for her book pouch but Fen put a hand out to stop her

"You don't need the books, you already know what's in the book, I know you know it"

"Yeah, but.. for triangulation… "
"Triangulation is just a crutch, until you get the proper feel for it"
"But … I don't have the feel for it…"

"Ok, yeah but like… why don't we start with some flicker?"
"Flicker? What? We're not supposed to learn that"
"Yeah I know, it's not considered useful for students, but it actually helps you understand the process"
"Ok fine then, flicker… how do I flicker?"
"It's like … you know the two parts of apparating right?"
"Yes of course: anchoring and disjoint. First you attach your ethereal self to a second point in space, then you disjoint your current position"

"Yes, and that's when the snap happens, you snap to the second position"
"Right"

"Flicker is the opposite, you disjoint first and then immediately anchor, but there the same snap"

"What? That's crazy, isn't that dangerous?"
"No it's all good, worst things worst you throw yourself to the ground"

Hope looked at them with suspicion

"Here, I'll go first"
They pulled out their wand, took a deep breath and then whipped their wand violently in the air, and with a whip like sound they transport about 2 meters over, still facing the same direction, they turned around and faced Hope, then did it again to flicker back but overshot it, and flickered a third time to reappear somewhat adjacent to her

"Whoooa" she was notably impressed

"See? It's, uh, well it's not easy but I think it's definitely doable. You go"
"Right. Right… just.. disjoint and then anchor"

"Yeah, don't think about it too much just throw yourself in"
She made a concentrating look and slowly raised her wand, and then whipped it in the air. Her figure blurred for a brief moment but didn't move

"Eh… I don't think I got it"
"No, you didn't completely disjoint, you have to let go fully"
"Yeah… it's hard"

"Maybe try it with a running start"

"...what?"

"Yeah it's like, when you apparate you have to be still and focus, but flicker is the opposite: momentum makes it easier"

"Oh…. k , well"

she backed up several steps

"Ok… ok, here I go"

she started running and then whipped her wand mid run, this time she teleported several meters forward

"Whooa!" she shrieked with excitement

"Told ya! Did you feel it? The feeling of the snap?"

"Yeah yeah… I definitely did, but, like, I just think…."

She was interrupted by a loud boom and flash of light from behind them, there was a faint vibration occurring in the ground. Fen felt a sudden sense of dread and unease, the hair raising at the back of their arms.

"What the.. shit?" Hope exclaimed
They turned towards the sound, it was coming from the castle

Another boom sounded and a colorful explosion bloomed out from the side of a tower, followed by another one

"Are they… fireworks?" she said looking worried

"No.. that's the kind of explosion meant for destruction"

"What? But….. "
Fen grabbed her by the arms

"We need to get out of here. Now. Hogwarts... is under attack"

End of Act I