Chapter 9: Magic and Magical Creatures
Shal dreamed. He dreamt of mountains of gold piled high in a vast underground cavern. Beautiful gems and jewels glittered and sparkled magically as he looked from one side of the horde to the other. His horde. His vast wealth. It's all mine, he thought. All for me!
Suddenly, a deafening crash erupted from behind him, and Shal awoke. Ron, it appeared, was not as stealthy as he wanted to be, and tripped over his trunk when he tried to leave the room. Luckily, the other students remained asleep. Shal snuck silently after the red-headed bandit as he descended the stairs. Harry was already down in the common room, waiting for Ron. Just before they turned to leave, a light flickered to Shal's left. Attached to that light was the arm of Hermione Granger.
"You!" Ron whispered loudly. "Go back to bed!"
"I almost told your brother Percy," Hermione snapped, obviously just as upset as Ron. "He'd put a stop to this."
"Tattle-tale," Shal said. He was louder than he thought, and the others whirled around, surprised to hear his voice.
"What are you doing up?!" Ron said, more frustrated than ever.
"I wanna see the duel," Shal replied excitedly. "I hope Harry trashes that greasy little punk."
Hermione was ticked. "How can any of you think of doing something like this? Are you so selfish? Are you willing to lose all those points for Gryffindor?"
"Come on," Harry said to Ron. The two exited out the portrait hole.
"Don't worry," Shal said optimistically. "We won't get caught."
And with that, he followed them out. Hermione, who was still trying to convince them to come back, did the same. She was still talking at them when Shal turned and saw that the Fat Lady in the picture wasn't there.
"Uh, guys?" he said, suddenly worried. "How are we gonna get back in? The Fat Lady's gone!"
"Not our problem," Ron replied. "We've got to go."
Shal looked at the pair, then at Hermione. He darted after them. Hermione, distraught, shook her fists and followed.
Just before Ron snapped at the girl and the dragon, Harry motioned for silence. A strange shape was found lying on the floor, and it was breathing rhythmically. It was Neville Longbottom. He sat up suddenly when they came close.
"Thank goodness you came," he said. "I've been out here for hours. I forgot the password."
"She's gone," said Hermione. "It wouldn't do you any good if you knew."
"Well," said Shal, "you can't go back to the common room, so why don't you come with us?"
Ron shot Shal a vicious stare, but he shrugged. "Fine, he can come," he said.
The five of them snuck and ran their way to the trophy room. There were hundreds of trophies, whether for Quidditch or otherwise. They all sparkled in the moonlight and Shal felt a small bit of déjà vu. As they waited, Harry looked around nervously, half expecting Filch to show his ugly head. However, Filch wasn't seen. He was heard.
"Sniff around, my sweet," they heard him say to Mrs. Norris. "They might be lurking in a corner."
The quintet got the heck out of there as fast as they could. Filch was hot on their trail. They ran crazily down random corridors, in an attempt to shake their terrible assailant and his cat. They knocked over suits of armor as they ran, which almost certainly caught Filch's attention. They opened and closed doors to block his progress, but it was no good. The last door they reached was locked. Hermione barged to the front and quickly whipped out her wand.
"Alohomora!" she whispered, and the lock unlocked. They quickly ran in and shut the door. Filch was talking to his cat again. He sounded stymied. As they heard his footsteps trail off, they breathed a sigh of relief. However, that sigh was quickly drawn back in.
As the group turned around, they realized that they were even less safe than before. Standing not ten feet in front of them was a monstrous creature. It would have been a normal dog had it not been for two distinct characteristics. It was absolutely massive, about five times the size of the group that stood before it. It also had three heads, each one growling and drooling angrily.
Harry acted fast. He swiftly grabbed the doorknob, and in one fluid motion, the five of them flew out the door and slammed it. They then set about getting as far away from the beast as they could. Thankfully, Filch did not show up during their retreat. The portrait opened the instant they recited the new password, and they all climbed inside. Then, the group breathed a second, fuller sigh of relief.
"WTF," said Shal, both scared and confused. Neville darted quickly to bed, too scared to stay up.
"What's wrong with them, keeping a think like that locked up in the school?" said Ron.
"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she said, her anger returning. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
Shal thought for a minute, and then said, "Good thinking. I just realized why a school, or any establishment, would keep something as vicious as that locked up in a room."
Harry and Ron turned to Shal, clueless.
"It's the guardian of a valuable item. Whatever that item is, the teachers were keeping it down beneath the trap door that that…creature was standing on. It's so simple now that I think about it."
"That must be where Hagrid put that grimy little bag that he found," said Harry.
"I hope you three are happy," said Hermione, indignantly. "We could have been killed, or worse: expelled." With that, she left for her room.
"Now that's what we call dedication to education," said Shal. "But, yeah, we should be getting some sleep." So they did.
As the quartet sat down at the table for breakfast (which included pancakes and waffles, which Shal didn't much care for), Draco Malfoy gaped at Harry and Ron. Why hadn't they been expelled, his face seemed to say. Hermione, however, was quite the opposite. She stayed away from the pair and refused to even speak to them. Shal was somewhere in the middle of the two groups. He was too busy pondering last night's events. He thought the most about what the something could be. Could it be an artifact of vast power? Could it be a prisoner? A portal to a distant dimension? Could it be that package that Harry had spoken of? He also wondered how one could bypass such a beastly creature. Put it to sleep? Turn yourself invisible? Take to the walls and sneak behind it?
Shal puzzled long and hard, but his ruminations were interrupted by the incoming mail. An owl dropped a package in front of Harry. The parcel was long and thin. Shal peered of Harry's shoulder as he read the card on the side. It stated that the package was Harry's new Nimbus Two Thousand, and that he shouldn't open it there. Furthermore, he was to meet Oliver Wood out on the Quidditch field at seven that night. Harry was overcome with glee, but Shal was overcome with rage. As Harry and Ron left to open the parcel, Shal sat there, sulking. Why the hell does he get all the special attention? Why does he get expensive gifts and I don't?! This is so incredibly unfair! He was just about to burst out screaming when he noticed Hermione to his right. He then got an idea.
"Hermione," he asked, "did you happen to see what that package was?"
She seemed as irked as Shal was about Harry's special reward.
"Yes," she replied. "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. I'm going to have a little talk with those two."
"Wait, Hermione, don't go," he told her as she prepared to leave. "It probably wouldn't make a difference. They won't change their minds. Furthermore, you said that you weren't speaking to them, remember?"
She paused. "You're right," she sighed. "It's just not fair to the rest of the house that they get rewarded for rule-breaking."
"I agree," replied Shal. "You know how you asked for me to teach you how to better use your magic?"
She nodded.
"Well, I think that maybe tonight, around seven, you can have your first lesson? Meet me in the library."
Hermione smiled. "Thanks," she replied excitedly. "I can't wait." And with that, the Hall emptied as students went to class.
Only when he sat down in Flitwick's class did Shal realize what he had gotten himself into. Teach a human magic? He didn't know where to begin. Shal racked his brain, trying to remember how his mother had taught him. He finally decided to go at it as if he were teaching someone how to play a game. He would look for similarities between what he was to teach and what she already knew. But how? What kind of spellcaster was she? As far as he could tell, the only thing that she had in common with anything he was familiar with was that her magic was hereditary, like that of a Sorcerer. Wait, he thought. That's it!
Shal had difficulty concentrating the rest of the day. He was thinking and planning feverishly, his train of thought chugging away without stopping. At around six thirty, he was ready. He finished his meal, and went off to the library.
He was nervous; the butterflies in his stomach were having fistfights. What if he messed up? What if he gave her the wrong information? But as quickly as these thoughts came into his head, he pushed them out. His mother had told him that one loses confidence if he thinks too much. His worries returned as Hermione walked into the library, spotted him, and sat across from him at one of the tables.
"Hi, Shal," she said. Shal noted her enthusiasm and her desire to learn. It gave him confidence.
He cleared his mind, focused himself, and began. "I hope you brought something to write with, because I have a lot to cover. Now, before I start teaching you about how to use magic, you need to know the fundamentals of magic itself, as well as some important definitions. This is so you can better understand what it is you are trying to do."
Hermione nodded, trustingly.
"The first major question: what is magic?"
Hermione thought for a second, almost puzzled. "It's kind of hard to put into words. We always take it for granted. I guess we never bothered to put a definition to it."
"True. Magic is a very abstract idea. As it is capable of doing so many different things, it is very hard to explain. I'll try to be concise with my attempt at a definition: magic is an energy that allows for the potential to influence reality in ways that one otherwise could not."
Hermione wrote this on a sheet of parchment, which made Shal uneasy.
"Now, keep in mind that the definitions I give you are not…definitive. They are merely what I think, or how I put them in my words. So don't be too upset if Flitwick or McGonagall tells you otherwise (though they might be wrong). Magic is divided into two, broad categories: divine magic and arcane magic. Divine magic is granted through worship of and devotion to one or more of the many deities that 'shaped the world.' But let's not get to far in depth with this kind. Arcane magic, the magic that you use, is a result of the caster's will or intellect influencing reality.
"There are many types of 'arcane spellcasters' in the world, but I will focus on the two main types: sorcerers and wizards."
At this, Hermione became confused. "What about witches? Aren't we considered major enough?"
"No, no, no. Your definition of witch and my definition are two completely different things. Unlike what your kind thinks, you are not a witch. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen or heard of a witch in real life. Your definition of witch is a female 'wizard.' Now let me clear things up."
Hermione became more and more puzzled as he went.
"None of the people in this school," Shal continued, "or even in your 'wizarding world' are actual wizards. None of you are witches either. 'Wizard' is a gender-neutral term for an arcane spellcaster that uses knowledge and books to cast spells. A wizard casts spells like one would bake a cake: using a recipe. He/she/it prepares each spell he wants to cast that day through meditation and complex chanting and hand gestures. As far as I can tell, none of you people do that, so you can't be wizards."
Hermione became frustrated. "Well, then, what are we?"
"That's the interesting thing," Shal replied, smiling. "To properly explain this, I'll need to give a short, semi-hypothetical 'history lesson.' As far as I can tell, dragons were the first beings to ever use arcane magic. We were born with it. It's in our blood. Then along came humans. They wanted to learn to use magic, too. So we taught them. Thus, the first wizards came about.
"Then things became interesting. Not all dragons are created equal, unfortunately. Some dragons (myself not included) have the inherent ability to change their form into any living creature they choose. Others use spells to change their form. Many decided to turn into humans and live in human lands. As they coexisted with the humans, some fell in love with them. Eventually, the first half-dragons were born."
Hermione shuddered at the thought. Shal laughed to himself a little.
"Anyway, these half-dragons inherited the dragon parent's magical ability (as well as the obvious physical characteristics), though it was slightly less powerful. They became the very first sorcerers. Then, the half-dragons mated with other humans, and the bloodline became more diluted, but the magic stayed strong. This process repeated for many generations. The obvious physical traits began to fade, but the magical ability stayed strong for a very long time. Then, it began to fade. Their magic began becoming weaker and weaker with each generation. It eventually became so weak that these sorcerers were barely capable of casting the most rudimentary spells. One day, a very smart human found a way to channel the leftover magical energy, even in the minutest quantities, and make it useable. He invented the modern wand."
Shal held up his wand and marveled at it. "Let me know if I'm going too fast, Hermione. I know this is a lot to take in, but bear with me." She agreed.
"The wand gave these sorcerers the ability to perform magic at an 'acceptable' level. But it came at a terrible price. Allow me to compare the sorcerer I'm familiar with to the 'modern wizard,' so I can properly emphasize the difference. A true sorcerer is a very charismatic individual. He draws his magical energy from the dragon's blood in his veins and uses his force of personality to influence the world around him, including his physical self. He uses complex hand gestures, exacting syllables, and material components to manifest his magic. He is capable of very powerful magic, things that you probably haven't even dreamed of. He could cause a massive earthquake, make fire rain down from the skies, kill everyone within spitting distance of himself, and stop time itself. He could even live forever, if he tried hard enough. However, all this power was very taxing for him, and as a result, he could only cast so many spells each day.
"The wand-wielding sorcerer, on the other hand, is capable of casting an infinite number of spells each day, uses no material components, and casts using syllables based on Latin (a human language), rather than Draconic, as it used to be. Unfortunately, these spell are far less powerful than the wonders the true sorcerers were capable of. Nowadays, there are very, very few true sorcerers left."
"Why's that?" Hermione wondered.
"A couple of reasons. People might have thought that breeding with dragons was improper, so they never bothered to start new lines of sorcerers. Second, dragons have become more reclusive over the years. The modern man is far too skeptical and disbelieving of things that are 'unnatural.' I guess it's the same reason why you guys don't share your secrets with the 'muggles.'
"Interesting," thought Hermione. "Now, you're probably going to teach me how to cast spells like the old sorcerers."
"No, I'm not. I can't. The draconic blood in your veins isn't concentrated enough. However, I can teach you the different aspects of such spells. Hopefully, these things will give you a foundation when you train to become a wizard."
"What?" Hermione said, surprised. "A wizard?"
"Yes. It would be a perfect fit. You have the erudite, bookish nature of a wizard. Your desire to know many different spells would only be fulfilled in a wizard's career. My only hope is that what I know can help you get started. It requires many, many years of study in order to be at least a competent spellcaster. More years than here at Hogwarts. You need to be dedicated."
Hermione seemed a little uneasy, but Shal reassured her quickly. "You don't have to make your decision now. Think on it. I believe that is enough for today." And with that, the two of them left the library.
