Retirement Plan.
Part 11.
King's Cross Station. Muggle Britain.
Raven, Dawn, and I made it to King's Cross station with plenty of time. When we did get here I dragged my trunk off the Knight Bus, which seemed intent on giving me a case of internal bleeding every time I rode in it.
I didn't bother to look back at the demonic transport as it jolted away as soon as my trunk and I cleared the door. None of the muggles who were milling about seemed to have noticed the bus-shaped blur.
As for Raven and Dawn, they were already making their way into the train station. Spending the last few weeks in study had not dampened their eagerness to attend the magical school even if Raven was more stoic about it.
While we hadn't gone after any more Horcruxes since the Gaunt Ring I wasn't disappointed as we'd made wonderful progress so far and I knew how to obtain the other Horcruxes even if a couple of them might prove tricky to actually get our hands on.
Besides, it had been a good idea to take a step back and for me to learn some magic before acting again as I couldn't keep having Raven do everything for me as it simply wasn't fair to have her doing all the work. Not when she had her own studies to be getting on with.
It wasn't as if were in any rush. I had years to complete my goals and only so much of that time would be spent away from the school so it had made sense to spend the rest of the summer doing nothing of major importance.
I'd been to train stations many times during my first life, including Paddington station. Which sadly had been lacking in talking bears from Peru when I'd visited the place. This version of King's Cross looked nicer than I remembered. Less litter and there were no homeless people.
We were much too early to catch any glimpses of Harry Potter or the Weasleys, which was a good thing in my view as I wanted to avoid getting caught up in their shared story.
I figured that despite my warnings, Dawn was going to make an effort to make friends with the Chosen One.
"You know we could have stayed in bed and then taken the bus directly to Hogsmeade and then checked out the village rather than spend hours on a train," I said to Dawn "It's not as if we actually have to take the Hogwarts Express".
The Key in human form didn't agree.
"Taking the train is part of the Wizarding World experience" she argued.
Raven seemed unbothered by the prospect of spending hours on a train.
"We can always do it your way next time" the former Teen Titan pointed out.
I counted out the platforms until I found the 9th and 10th. Dawn raced on ahead only to find that the gateway to the platform wouldn't open.
"It's only 10 am" Raven reminded Dawn "The platform won't be open yet".
We stood around waiting and Miss Summers got bored very quickly.
"Can I have some regular money for a drink?" she requested.
I handed over some coins and she went over to a vending machine. She then spent a needless amount of time bending over. Oddly it all seemed familiar to me.
"You did that on purpose" I accused.
She gave me an innocent look.
"Did what on purpose?" she asked.
Even after spending weeks living together she still went out of her way to tease me. She knew that I admired her cute little backside and she wore tight jeans on purpose when out of the house, and often far less when indoors.
"I was just thirsty" she stated.
Now she'd said that so was I. As such I took us to a small café within the station for something to snack on. By the time we got back, the passageway was open. We knew this as we saw someone pass through a barrier so we figured it must be open
Dawn was the first to through with Raven following, I shuffled closer and tried to nonchalantly look around. When I felt fairly certain that no one was looking this way I poked a finger into the barrier.
It went through what looked to be a solid brick wall, and I didn't feel anything. Perhaps it was a magical version of a hologram and really there was no wall. Another thing to look into.
I stepped forward and as I did this I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I was on another platform or somehow between them. I wondered how it worked. Would any wizard understand me if I asked about trans-dimensional engineering? Or was that just something that only existed in Doctor Who?
I didn't think about that for long as I saw the Hogwarts Express. Gleaming in the late morning sun.
Very quickly the platform became crowded. Parents were saying farewell to their older offspring, and children of all ages were running about like the sugared-upped runts that they really were.
No doubt they were very jealous of their more mature siblings yet happy they were going as it meant more attention for them from the parents, many of which looked as if they thought they'd never seen their older kids ever again.
I could see a line forming for getting our luggage secured. The House Elves might unload the stuff when we arrived, but they didn't put the stuff on the train for us.
The trunks had to be loaded rather than carried as I'd been told that you couldn't shrink a trunk if it was bigger on the inside for some reason. Apparently, it would explode and scatter my possessions, which I didn't want.
This limit made some sense as this civilization was made of wizards, not Time
Lords.
As I loaded my school stuff onto the train I looked around for any famous faces. I should be on the lookout for companions to recruit and one of my favourite characters, Hermione Granger, should be on the train.
Would she make a good third companion? Only time would tell.
After getting onto the train I picked an empty compartment for the three of us, and upon sitting down I found that the sets were a rich brown leather which made them very comfy. This was a good thing as we'd be sitting on them for some time to come.
Rather suddenly the compartment opened, a group of older students looked at us, then closed it again. Then a group of even older students looked at the two of us and then closed the door to the compartment.
"That's going to get annoying" commented Raven "I'm going to seal the door until after we leave the station".
Some dark energy appeared over the door and then seemed to vanish as if there never had been a door at all.
"We should go back to studying" Raven suggested, "We'll fall behind the other students if we're not careful".
I could well imagine the Purebloods have private tutors and because I refused to be beaten by moronic inbred bluebloods so I got down to some studying. Sure I could think of more fun things for us to do in a train compartment.
As it turned out Dawn was going to do something more interesting. She began rubbing my cock through my trousers, having no trouble getting me hard, and then without saying a word she decided to expose my cock.
She began to stroke it as she would when we were at home together. Her small and soft hands were already skilled at getting me erect very quickly.
"Dawn, what are you doing?" I asked in a whisper, "You can't do this here. What if people see us?"
She clearly didn't care and rather than stop her I summoned my invisibility cloak so that I could throw it over the former Sunnydale resident and she pulled up the hood so that she vanished completely.
The door might be hidden by an illusion, but the window was open and anyone could look to see what we were doing. Given that were children about I was a little uncomfortable about this until Dawn and my cock vanished from sight.
"Don't get cum on my cloak" warned Raven.
Well, it was my cloak, but I was going to argue about that, and I was a little surprised that my more controlled companion acted as if she did not care at all that I was getting a blowjob in public. These two were certainly getting along well. Some influence of the CYOA perhaps.
Rather than worry about her threat I leaned back and let Dawn do her thing. She'd gotten very good at pleasuring me with her mouth, insisting that she practice, but she'd never been this kinky before.
She'd been a virgin a month ago with hardly any experience, now she was a skilled lover and eager to please. Not that this was all about making me happy, she was excited about going to the school, and she wanted to express this in a way only Dawn Summers could.
"Rachel, do you want a turn?" Dawn suddenly asked, "Or are you going to wait until later?".
She even didn't look up from her book.
"Doing it publicly isn't my thing" she said "Just leave some cum in his balls for later. I'm planning on sneaking into James's room and celebrating our arrival".
Despite not being able to see her face I figured that Dawn was smiling.
"No promises," she told my other companion "I'm really horny today".
I didn't mind hearing that.
Train Station. Hogsmede.
By the time we had reached our destination, the night was starting to take over from the day, and I knew that by the time we first years made it to the school, it would be dark.
It had been a pleasant trip even if Dawn hadn't actually managed to make my balls empty as Raven made the door appear again so we'd know when the trolly lady was coming, and I had needed to make a start on the required reading.
The small station we'd arrived at had been largely deserted by the locals assuming that this station was ever busy. Was there even more than one train in the Magical parts of this country?
There was a village here if the many lights and the occasional smoking chimney were anything to go by. I remembered that it was called Hogsmede and that students in 3rd year and above could visit the place on certain weekends.
Well, that was in the book/movies, in this version all the students could visit the village every weekend. This made sense as the students going to the village to spend money would be the village's primary source of income.
Many of the first-years soon had a rather dumbfounded look on their faces, and at least partly that was because of the half-giant, who I knew to be called Hagrid, who was soon leading us towards a small fleet of boats that were over by the lake.
He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and wider, he wore a large leather and fur coat, which only made him seem bigger, and he had dark hair that could be best described as a rat's nest. Which was an odd phrase as did rats even have nests?
"Who the hell is that guy?" asked one of my fellow students.
The young man could be Muggle-Born if so he never would have seen someone like Hagrid before now.
"That's Hagrid. He's the Keeper of Keys and Grounds for Hogwarts," I told the lad "He looks after the animals here at the school and escorts the first years to the castle".
And possibly did other things that I didn't know about. I knew that he did the odd chore for Dumbledore, whom Hagrid idolised as the Headmaster had set Hagrid up with the groundskeeper job after Hagrid had been unfairly expelled.
Although I wondered how much Dumbledore really cared about Hagrid as he'd done nothing to stop poor Hagrid from getting carted off to prison just so the Ministry could be seen to be doing something about the attacks on Muggle-borns in Harry Potter's second year.
My words to my fellow student should have raised even more questions, however, we were soon getting into the little boats, and this required our attention. Since we weren't 11 years old students Hagrid limited us to three to a boat rather than four, so Dawn, Raven and I got to sail across the lake together.
The waters of the lake were black and ominous as well as full of life. I knew that not only did this lake contain a Giant Squid, but as well as a race of mere-people who called this body of water their home.
As for the small, oar-less boats, they didn't seem safe enough to me, but I figured that when you could alter reality by waving a fancy stick around and saying funny words, that safety equipment, like say those jackets that make you float in water, wouldn't be as much of a concern as they would be for Muggles.
After Hagrid tapped his own boat once with an umbrella, which I knew contained the remains of his snapped wand, the small fleet started moving towards the castle.
No words, no lights, no fuss we just had smooth sailing. At least until the giant squid made an appearance. Hagrid yelled something and the creature backed off. Likely this was just the creature's way of saying hello.
About a minute later Hogwarts appeared through the mists ahead, although in truth we'd moved closer to it. Every first-year stared at it. I was only a little less impressed than the others despite having seen it in the movies.
The castle was all lit up and rather attractive to look at.
As the small fleet of boats approached the foothills of the massive rocks that the castle was built upon, there was no sign of a boathouse, instead, we entered a wide-open cave, and this seemed wrong to me.
Hadn't Voldemort killed Snape in a boathouse by the lake? Was that somewhere else on the grounds and just where the boats were stored? I'd have to explore and find out.
Soon enough, we reached an underground boat bay which was illuminated by torches that had burst into flame on their own as we approach. From here I could see some stairs, they must lead up into the castle.
We all followed the half-giant to the entrance of the Great Hall and here were met by a woman I knew to be the deputy headmistress as we'd met before.
"Tha firs' year students, Professor McGonagall" declared Hagrid.
She inspected us for a moment. We all normal clothing under black cloaks that were welcome as it was getting rather nippy and we looked neat enough considering the long train ride.
Professor McGonagall spent a moment telling us that we would soon be Sorted and that we would join our houses once we were Sorted.
"Follow me, everyone" she then ordered.
This was also different than expected because I could remember that the students should have been alone at this point and Malfoy was supposed to try to befriend Potter only he never got a chance.
The Great Hall more than justified its name; it was the size of a cathedral, and just as elaborate when it came to the décor
There were five big tables within the massive room, four for the students who were divided into their houses, and one at the far end for the staff.
Candles hung on their own accord in mid-air, there had to be hundreds of them and filled the vast space with soft light, without dripping a single drop of wax on anyone or anything.
It was charming in a rather primitive sort of way.
I noticed the dining plates, the silverware and the glasses that waited to be filled. They had to be worth a fortune even if they hadn't been enchanted. I wondered if any muggle-born had ever thought about stealing them and selling them at an antique shop.
Heck, I might have considered doing so if not for my trust fund and the other ideas I had for making some extra money.
The most impressive and magical sight of them all was the night sky that seemed to have been brought inside and hung up overhead.
"The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I've read about it in..."
"Hogwarts A History" I finished for her.
Hermione Granger looked at me with an expression of surprise.
"It's a great book isn't it?" she asked.
I just nodded and then looked around some more. Many faces stared at us first-years as we were marched between the tables and towards the Sorting Hat, the shabby-looking thing was now right in front of me.
I had to wonder how it would react to Raven, Dawn and me once it got into our heads. Very soon we'd find out, and I had to wonder if it would somehow go wrong.
"Don't worry" assured Raven, who must have sensed my concern "Your mind is protected. Just ask to go into the same house as me".
She would go first since she was Rachel Roth, and Dawn Summers would naturally go before James Twycross, assuming they sorted students by surnames. I felt certain that it did.
Once the hat had stopped signing, the Sorting went as I expected. Older-looking versions of the first-year student went and put the hat on, it was only when Hermione Granger, who had gone for a bit of an emo/goth look in this world, sat down, did something unexpected happen.
"Ravenclaw!" he hat shouted.
How odd. Didn't she want to go to the same house as Dumbledore because she admired him? Was she more jaded in this timeline or more introverted? Perhaps going through high school in the Muggle world had changed her.
Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor without much delay, his godfather's influence I assumed, and I was left wondering how he would fair in this school if he didn't make friends with Granger. Who would tell him how to act, think and feel? Perhaps someone else would fill that role.
Raven went up to the stool. I held my breath until the hat shouted Ravenclaw! and again I felt my breathing stop when Dawn was called up. She was smiling like the cat who had gotten the crème, an expression I'd seen on her face only during her happiest moments.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat yelled.
There was some polite clapping and I was called for.
"James Twycross," said the Deputy Headmistress.
I sat on the stool and wondered why we couldn't get a proper chair.
"Oh, another one" whispered the hat "I have never had to sort three people from other universes before, not in one sorting".
There were other people from different worlds here? As in my year, or in the school right now? Or did the hat mean in the past?
"I can't read your mind to sort you so should I just put you with your lady friends?" the hat asked.
"Yes please" I answered.
I felt the hat nod even if it didn't actually move.
"Don't worry, James, I was enchanted by the founders to keep my reasons for sorting secret from even them," said the hat before it yelled "Ravenclaw!".
I headed over to where Raven and Dawn were waiting for me. I was very pleased by how smoothly our sorting had gone as it could have been a disaster if the hat had informed the teachers that we didn't belong here.
Retirement Plan.
Part 12.
Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.
Despite my concerns, the Sorting went as expected with Raven, or Rachel as I had to remind myself to call her when at Hogwarts, Dawn and I were all sorted into the Ravenclaw House by the Sorting Hat.
The special hat knew we weren't exactly who we were supposed to be but the enchanted item had told me that it couldn't tell anyone what it saw in our minds. I believed the hat as it did sound like something the Founders would do to the hat to protect the students, or at least that was the opinion I had on the matter.
If Headmaster Dumbledore was going to concern himself about the contents of anyone's head it would be Harry Potter's, not mine or my companions. We weren't one of his Gryffindors after all.
Since Raven and Dawn weren't concerned, and they both had a lot more experience with strange magical stuff than myself, I decided not to worry about it either. If things did go wrong we could all make our way back to my home and maybe even leave the country.
This trial of thought lead to me wondering again if Raven Dawn, and I weren't the only students here at the college who weren't what we appeared to be. Could there be a SI (self-insert) character here like in some fanfiction I'd read or someone who had otherwise moved from one universe to another?
The Sorting Hat had more or less stated that to be the case even if it hadn't let me know that person or even person was still in the school or not. Heck for all I knew that person had come and gone decades ago.
I was curious, yet I felt that it might not be a good idea to try to find out more in case I ended up upsetting someone a lot more powerful than myself. Best to follow the school's motto and not to tickle the sleeping dragon.
If there was an SI around then he or she didn't seem to be doing anything about Voldemort, at least not yet. I knew this to be the case as I knew the current status of all the Horcruxes and where Voldemort was.
At least everything else was as it should be even with the changes to the timeline.
Dumbledore had warned us about the corridor on the third floor, and since there had never been any mention in the papers about a break-in at Gringotts, and because Voldemort was possessing one of the teachers, I assumed that Professor Dumbledore was using a fake stone as bait.
He must still intend to guide Harry Potter into a confrontation with the Dark Lord without carrying that he was putting the students of the school at risk.
Putting all of that aside for now I focused on the here and now. I was here to become a wizard and enjoy myself not to drive myself crazy thinking about matters that didn't need to concern me at this time.
The Ravenclaw common room was located in one of the castle's towers, it was a wide and circular space, almost like an oversized birdcage, only with proper walls rather than bars, or at least that was the impression that I got. It did work with the theme of the house.
Aside from the spiral stairs, this tower had graceful arched windows, and on the walls were banners made from blue and bronze silks, the colours of the house.
Ravenclaw was meant to be connected to the classic element of air, hence blue serves as the main colour for the house and the bird as the house symbol.
While there was no point system, we were expected not to embarrass the House or try to sleep in the wrong part of the castle. Other than that your House here at the school didn't matter much aside from the Quidditch pitch.
At least not for the Ravenclaws whose members would be more introverted than those in the other Houses. That was the impression I had already gotten while listening to my new peers talk during dinner.
The domed ceiling above us was decorated with stars. There were also tables, chairs, and heck a lot of bookcases could be found in the main room of the tower, as well a big white-marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw which sat next to the door that leads to the dormitories above.
"Boys go to the right for their rooms and girls on the left," said an older student.
It was soon explained to us that we have private rooms as there weren't that many students and while the girls could go up to the boy's rooms the other way around wasn't allowed.
I assumed that this was to ensure that if students did bunk together then it was the girl who decided this would happen by going to the boy's room, making it clear that the guy hadn't tried to force the issue.
Unlike the other common rooms in the school, there was no password, instead, a riddle given by a bronze eagle-shaped knocker must be answered to enter as any fool can figure out a Riddle.
This could prove troublesome as anyone with enough intellect could intrude into our dormitory. There had to be some couples from different Houses who wanted to visit each other's rooms.
"Professor Flitwick will speak to the first years in the morning after breakfast" we were informed "Classes won't begin until the day after tomorrow so you'll have time to settle in and to get to know the castle".
Once I'd looked around I saw that Rachel had already made her way over to a shelf and was looking at the titles. Meanwhile, Dawn was admiring the view.
"An impressive collection" I commented.
An older student, who I suspected was Cho Chang, the age difference made it uncertain with less well-known characters, told us that the books were left behind by former students to help future students with their studies.
Generous and a good way of ensuring that Ravenclaw students had access to plenty of reading materials.
"We should head to bed," I said to my companions when Dawn came over to us
I wouldn't be sleeping alone I figured as the girls had both gotten used to sharing a bed with me, often taking turns, even if they had their own room at the house. This was good because otherwise my fancy bedroom would be filled with their stuff by now.
My room was small and it was mine alone since there weren't that many students in the tower so there was plenty of room.
It wasn't long after I settled in that Raven knocked on my door and I let her in.
"I wanted to talk to you about sleeping with other girls" mentioned Rachel as soon the door closed and she did something to seal the room with magic "Dawn and I talked about it, and we know you need to recruit someone, but we aren't comfortable with you sleeping around".
You didn't need to be an expert on women to see how they could find the prospect of me fucking other girls to be upsetting.
"So we want you to clear it with us before trying to bring a new girl into the group since we'll have to get along with them and share you with someone else" she then added.
That seemed reasonable to me as bringing in someone new would change things for the whole group and while I did seem to be the one making most of the choices I wasn't really a leader.
Dawn and Raven were my companions, not my minions and they had chosen to be here. Although when they did obey it was enjoyable.
"And we need to carry on with your training in the mind arts," said the former Teen Titan.
I could think of better things we could be doing.
"Are you sure I can't tempt you to do something else?" I questioned.
She was tempted I was able to tell despite her controlled expression.
"It's not that late" she pointed out "We have time for both".
We'd been sent to the tower before curfew, which only limited us to the tower because we should be spending some of this evening getting to know our new housemates.
"Let's do some studying first and then you get sex" she stated.
She made it sound as if I'd be getting a gift meant for my enjoyment only. As if she didn't enjoy the things I did to her when her clothes came off.
"Fine," I said.
She was right. I did wish to master the magical arts of the mind so that I could alter people's memories and view their thoughts. It would be a very useful tool in the future.
"You need to learn to ignore distractions" insisted the witch.
I had the Sound Mind perk to help with that so I could focus if I wanted to, but I often allowed myself to be distracted. I had two very healthy and attractive young women in my life as such who could blame me?
"So ignore the fact that I want you to tie me to the bed and have your way with me," Raven said.
Her voice was steady, she displayed no emotion when speaking. Yet I knew she was trying to distract me with the promise of sexy fun times.
"You're just as bad as Dawn" I complained.
I saw the smug smirk on her face as she took a book out of the storage space.
"You have some reading to finish" she reminded.
Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.
"Miss Granger, Miss Summer, Miss Roth and Mr Twycross please come in," invited the head of our school house and deputy headmaster "I need to talk to you about your classes".
Flitwick's office was larger and yet he'd managed to make it seem cosy by supplying visitors with comfy chairs and by having his desk at a height that allowed him to sit with students at eye level rather than try to sit above anyone or have them look down upon him.
A subtle thing, Flitwick clearly understood the importance of maintaining eye and I figured that he only stood on stacked books in class so that he could see all of his students during practical lessons. That made it much easier for him to make sure that students were practising magic safely.
Like Slughorn, the Charms Master had photos of some of his favourite students in his office, if you could find them between all the books. While he didn't collect people like the Potion's Master did, I figured that to him these pictures were about remembering those pupils who he had helped as a teacher and hopefully inspired.
Judging by her place in the display Lily Potter, who would have been Lily Evans at the time, must have been one of Flitwick's most favoured students.
"Please sit down" the professor invite as got comfortable.
We did so and it was a good thing that the desk was so large as we soon had our uncompleted timetables in front of us to look at as well as all of the teacher's paperwork covering the surface.
"Most of the students at this school come from magical homes or homes with at least one magical parent, who attended Hogwarts so they tend to know what to expect" the professor said to us "They will know what electives they wish to take before ever stepping foot in the castle".
I imagined that these parents at least had some say in what optional subjects the student took if they didn't outright decide for them.
"Those who have been raised in the Muggle world need a bit more help so I called you all in together" he then said.
Well, that explained why it was just us four.
"You have the standard classes to start with," said Flitwick "Are any of you making use of any tutors?".
Everyone other than Granger was being tutored as I had arranged it to be so.
"Yes, I hired a tutor for History of Magic, and Defence," I told the Head of Ravenclaw "And another for Potions. Dawn and Raven are tutored with me".
Flitwick didn't comment when he what subjects I'd hired tutors for. I doubted that he'd have anything good to say about the teachers of those subjects in this school. He didn't seem at all surprised when I told him that I'd sought alternative instruction for those three subjects.
"You have the option to opt out of any subject you have hired a tutor for," said the small magic user "You can leave the school for tutoring sessions. You'll have to make them work around your timetables".
Flitwick waved his wand and three of the four timetables changed. Mine now times for Charms, Herbology, and Transfiguration.
"Now we can discuss electives" he said "You may take up two of the following subjects. Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies and Astronomy".
I was confused.
"If Astronomy is optional then why is a telescope part of our required equipment?" I asked.
Flitwick seemed pleased by the question rather than annoyed.
"Since the phases of the moon can affect the ingredients used in potions you will study the subject a little in both Potions and in Herbology" he explained "Divination also involves Astronomy in the creation of Horoscopes and the movements of the planets are supposed to have some importance in the subject".
He had more to say on this matter.
"I confess I'm unaware of what is involved in the class" Flitwick admitted "The last reason is that Astronomy used to be a core class and owning a telescope is something of a tradition here in the magical world".
That satisfied my curiosity.
"Now since you have all been raised in the muggle world I'm going to assume that none of you want to take muggle studies since it would be a waste of time" said our teacher.
No one replied to that.
"Miss Granger, would you like to pick your electives? We can discuss them first if you need more information" the teacher offered.
She must have decided already as she made her choices right away.
"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," she said.
Flitwick moved on to Raven.
"Arithmancy and Astronomy" she requested.
I had no idea she had any interest in stargazing.
"Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures" informed Dawn when it was her turn.
Given that she'd been training as a Watcher her choices made sense. She had a skill with languages and would want to know about the supernatural threats of this world which would include certain magical animals.
"Mr Twycross," said Flitwick "What are your choices?"
I gave it a little more thought.
"Do I need to take two electives?" I asked, "Aren't they optional?".
Flitwick did look a little shocked this time.
"They are" he told me "However not taking at least one will greatly limit your career options. As your Head of House I strongly advise that you take at least one elective".
A career wasn't really a concern given my wealth.
"Take Magical Creatures with me" requested Dawn "I'd like to share a class with you when it is just us".
I gave in quickly as she was giving me that look again.
"Okay, I'll take the creature's course," I said.
Raven didn't make a similar request as Dawn.
"Now that you have your timetable sorted I'll tell you about the optional extras and clubs" stated the teacher.
Well, he didn't need to tell us much as he had pamphlets.
"These are the clubs that still have places open" he said "You can pop along to a meeting and see if the clubs suit you before applying for a place".
Art Club
Astronomy Club
The Celestina Warbeck Fan Club
Charms Club
Chudley Cannons Fan Club
Dragon Club
Gobstones Club
The Harry Potter Fan Club
Ancient Runes Club
Knitting Club
"This year the school has a volunteer duelling instructor" Flitwick told us "His lessons will be during the evenings and weekends. It's not considered a club, but it doesn't offer any formal qualifications".
I wanted to learn more about duelling so I would be attending those extra lessons.
"Our other extra class is an introduction to Alchemy on Sunday afternoons that will be taught by Nicolas Flamel himself" Flitwick let us know.
Now that was different that what I'd been expecting and my reaction to hearing that name must have shown.
"Oh so you've heard of him," said the teacher.
While I'd tried to learn more about the man there wasn't much about him in the books I'd read so far.
"I haven't" Granger let us know.
Raven decided to provide some information.
"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, an object capable of transmuting metals into gold and it can be used to create the Elixir of Life" Rachel explained
That stone was sealed away in my storage space. The fact that Flamel was here could provide me with the knowledge required to unlock the stone's powers.
"The Elixer makes the drinker functionally immortal as long as it was regularly ingested," I told Granger.
Something she might find herself caring more about later in the school year. It would depend on how things worked out.
"Flamel is over six hundred years old. He's forgotten more about magic than we'll ever know" said Raven before she turned to me "We have to take this class".
That was fine with me.
"I want to learn to duel" I declared.
Flitwick made some notes.
"I'll sign you up for the Alchemy Class then Miss Roth and Mr Twycross" he stated "The duelling class is less formal so you just need to turn up".
With our choices made the meeting came to a natural end and we soon headed out of the office, but not before the teacher advised us to explore the castle and the grounds, not bothering to remind us that the 3rd-floor corridor was out of bounds. I assumed he thought we had a little sense in our heads.
"Want to check out the library?" I asked my companions.
I would have invited Granger, but by the looks of things she was already on her way.
"No let's go find the Come and Go Room" said Dawn.
Oh yes, that was a good idea.
Retirement Plan.
Part 13.
Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.
The Room of Requirement is a magical room here in Hogwarts Castle that really did deserve to be called magical in my opinion, as not only can it be discovered by someone who is in real need, the room will change to suit the needs of the person seeking to enter it.
Meaning that in theory, it can be anything you require it to be. I knew it couldn't provide food, but other than that I didn't know yet if it was limited to providing you with stuff that had been dumped in here over the last thousand years
The room might have some means of changing itself using other parts of the school, such as redirecting clean water pipes to make a swimming pool, and I figured that some experimentation was in order so that I could find out.
Already, I knew that it was called the Come and Go Room by the house elves of Hogwarts who use it as storage space and that the Room of Requirement is located on the seventh floor, opposite a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet.
Why anyone would do such a thing I couldn't imagine it didn't look at all safe or rewarding. I was so glad that I'd chosen a perk to help me stay sane or the madness of wizards could infect me.
To make the room appear, a person had to walk past the section of blank wall three times concentrating hard on what is needed. Three is a magical number so that part at least made some sense.
As to what I wanted, that was the place where things were hidden. I had a feeling that this room had mostly been used to store broken junk, lost personal effects, and forbidden items for the last thousand years. There would also be some real treasures mixed in with all the rubbish.
Not that I really needed the money as I had two fortunes already, even one of them was cursed, but it was a shame to leave it all just forgotten inside the wonderful room.
Besides it would be good to have access to some magical items and wealth that could be traded in other realties. Goblin-made coins would have no value in the dimensions of my companions and we would visit them one day.
With Raven and Dawn with me, I began to look around, making sure not to touch anything in case hostile spells had been placed upon the item. Hogwarts had played host to plenty of pranksters during its time.
What I mostly identified was broken and damaged furniture. Desks and chairs must have been damaged in ways that magic couldn't easily repair or one of the teachers would have just waved their wand and mended the broken object rather than have a house elf throw it away.
While looking around I found plenty of bottles because one of the teachers, a woman called Sybill Trelawney, used the Room of Requirement to hide her empty sherry bottles and I didn't think she was the only teacher to hide some booze in this room.
Some students likely had as well I guessed as I found many piles of empty bottles that smelled bad along with piles of harmless butterbeer, some of which had never been drank, but I figured that it wouldn't be drinkable by now.
I was most happy to find what must be hundreds of books. Most of them would be too damaged or mostly useless to me since I had no interest in stuff like Charming My Own Cheese and Early History of Many Noble Wizarding Families, but there were more than a few books that looked to be readable in subjects I did care about. Such as Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Some of these are library books" commented Dawn who was looking at an open book on a desk "Maybe we can sneak some of them back".
As I wandered around the piles I imagined that some students who'd gotten their hands on dark art books must have stashed them away in this room, but I would resist reading them.
The House Elves had dumped a lot of stuff here I was sure, and I found items that Flinch the caretaker would have confiscated had the objects not ended up here. Proof of this was when I found some winged catapults and Fanged Frisbees as well as many prank items I cared nothing about.
"Some of these things are cursed," warned Raven.
Perhaps I could hire curse breakers to check out some of the stuff here. If items were clean and repairable I might be able to sell them in second-hand stores if I didn't want them for myself or send them to people as gifts if they were rare objects.
I ignored the chipped bottles of congealed potions since they would not be safe to drink or handle and while some of the clothes look nice enough I wouldn't wear any of them because they were so not my style. As such I ignored the hats, the cloaks and such.
What I did care about were the bits of jewellery no doubt left by female students over hundreds of years, none of the earrings were in pairs as far as I could tell and I was careful not to touch any of the rings in case they were cursed.
I'd not put it past someone attending this school to have attempted to recreate Sauron's work. Tom Riddle might not be the only student to ever make a Horcrux while attending the school.
"Are we going to start sorting this junk out?" wondered Dawn.
That was the plan.
"Just don't touch anything" I warned her "We can try to separate anything valuable and we should catalogue the books as well. I'm going to hire some curse breakers to go over anything we want to salvage".
As we began work I placed anything that looked like it had value inside the one pouches I'd found here in the Room of Requirement. Pouches that I only touched while wearing dragonskin gloves and I carefully levitated objects into the different pouches for the curse breakers to look over.
I figured that Gringotts, a bank known for hiring curse breakers, could put a price tag on what I found here. Perhaps they'd even purchase the gold, silver and bronze items so that they could melt them down into coins.
One of the expensive-looking things I found were eggshells made from silver which I knew to be the eggs of a magical creature called Occamy, they had eggshells made of pure silver, and this accounted for why they were so sought after.
Occamy egg shells were also an essential ingredient for the brewing of Felix Felicis, something I knew from my lessons with Horace Slughorn. I should talk to that man about brewing me some of that luck potion.
In the first Fantastic Beasts movie, a film I'd greatly enjoyed watching despite the opinions of critics online, a muggle called Jacob Kowalski found an Occamy egg on the bench next to him, inadvertently dropped there by Newt Scamander.
While trying to return it to him, the egg began to hatch. Later in the movie, Newt showed Jacob a nest of Occamies newly hatched from their eggs, including the one hatched from the egg he found, which Jacob was allowed to hold.
Newt would later anonymously give Jacob a case of Occamy eggshells to use as collateral with a bank so that he could open his bakery. That gave me some idea of the value of these eggshells.
There were weapons here too, so far I'd located several rusting swords, some equally rusty daggers and a heavy, bloodstained axe that somehow just seemed evil so I made sure to keep my distance from it.
As for the daggers and swords I would have to learn some cleaning charms and dark arts detection before I dealt with them or pay the curse breakers to do as I was rich and could afford to outsource the dangerous work.
When I had the time should also try to find out if there was any market for old weapons. If they weren't magical or could have any spells on them removed, perhaps one of the Muggle world's antique stores would take them.
I'd just pulled myself away from admiring an enormous stuffed troll when I spotted something that made my mouth suddenly go dry.
It was the bust of an ugly old warlock that sat on top of the cupboard, and upon that bust perched a dusty old wig and a tiara. This was the main reason why we were here.
This tiara was the Diadem of Ravenclaw, hidden there by Tom Riddle decades ago. Ravenclaw's Diadem, also known as the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, was the only known relic that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. Etched upon its surface was Ravenclaw's famous quote: 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'.
It was said to enhance the wisdom of its wearer, which is Ravenclaw House's most treasured attribute. It had a big blue sapphire shaped like an oval in the centre and I wondered if the gem itself was the important part and the tiara was just a way of placing the gem on the head of the person who wore it.
Like how the Gaunt Ring was a Horcrux but the stone was a separate object even though it was attached to the metal of the ring.
According to Hogwarts: A History, The diadem was later stolen by her daughter, Helena, a fact Rowena kept a secret from the other founders until her death bed which wasn't long as Rowena died shortly after her daughter stole the diadem.
This made me wonder if Helena did something to her mother when she stole the item or if Rowena had somehow become dependent on it.
"Rachel, Dawn!" I called out.
The girls came running over to me, abandoning their own work.
"Oh, its pretty" commented Dawn "I want it".
She stopped herself from grabbing the shiny object.
"Stupid compulsion charms" she complained "But I do want it".
Even if I thought it was pretty.
"Let me cleanse it" said Raven as she put the item in a box "Then you can wear it".
The former Teen Titan turned to look at me.
"It's not my style and I'm assuming you don't want it," she said.
I shrugged.
"It wouldn't go with any of my outfits" I joked.
Only Dawn found that amusing.
"You can have it" I told the Key in human form before I addressed Raven "Are you going to keep a Founder's Relic for yourself?".
She'd certainly earned one.
"No," she said, "I prefer to make my own magical items. I was hoping to use of the Lestrange fortune for that".
She didn't need my blessing to use her share of the treasure, and I recalled that in the comic books, she wear a belt with jewels on it. Perhaps that was enchanted in some way to aid her with her magic.
"It's nearly lunchtime" pointed out Dawn as Raven made ready to leave "We'll meet you later and look around some more".
The contents of this room weren't going anywhere so there was no need to rush and sort it all out now.
Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.
"Remember, just as I told you," Filius Flitwick said as he looked over his newest class "Swish and flick! Just swish and...".
He stopped as he noticed a lone feather not only flying through the air but also doing loops and other tricks. Someone was showing off a little, but even those who must have been able to study over the summer shouldn't be doing this well.
It normally took a little time for even the gifted students to start doing any real magic in class as it was harder to cast with your peers around you as students could become embarrassed when around their peers.
Yet this one student was not only casting confidently, but she also made it look easy as if she'd been levitating objects regularly for years.
"Very good, Miss Roth!" praised the teacher.
Clearly, the Muggle-born witch was a natural, already doing better than the purebloods who would have the theory taught them years ago even if they hadn't gotten their own wands until recently.
You never got the best results with someone else's wand and most parents were hesitant to loan their wands to a child in case they needed them. Some people inherited wands, but it was rare for a student to be much good with any wand before they got to college.
"Come now, everyone," he turned about, looking at the rest of his students, "Please, everyone, please, let us practice and learn together! Swish…and flick!"
This was when the old teacher realised something, every student in the room was performing the wand movement, and saying the words, every student other than Rachel Roth, wasn't even swishing the wand she was just using it to point where the feather should go, she also wasn't saying anything out loud.
Students at this level did sometimes know that the movements and words weren't as important as they might think as they were tools to help a witch or wizard to focus their intent.
Performing spells non-verbally was very difficult for the first years and required a good deal of practice, as well as concentration and mental discipline. He hadn't seen a first-year witch perform magic so easily since Lily Evans and even she hadn't been this good.
Different wand-woods also could also affect the performance of casting non-verbal magic. Many wands made from Dogwood are for example rather noisy and can refuse to perform non-verbal magic, whereas wands of Pine are some of the most sensitive to non-verbal magic.
Flitwick didn't know what kind of wand Miss Roth was using and he didn't think it mattered that much. She was simply more talented at magic than all of the other students in the class.
Yes, he would most certainly have to watch this one. Clearly, she had a natural talent for magic, a lot like Miss Granger, and Miss Summers. The young man Mr Twycross wasn't so bad either. He wasn't like either of the girls he liked to hang around with, but he was clearly above average and eager to learn.
Yes, he had a fine group of first-year Ravenclaws. A shame the same couldn't be said for some of the students in the other houses.
So far Harry Potter wasn't impressive as he was rather timid and Neville Longbottom was having some trouble. Although he would cut those boys some slack given their personal turmoil.
Frank and Alice Longbottom suddenly recovering would have been a big shock to young Neville and it was doubt he'd prepared much for attending Hogwarts.
As for Harry Potter, that poor lad had been through a lot and had only re-joined the magical world once Sirius Black had been cleared of charges.
Both of those boys might need some tuition by themselves or a more skilled student. Flitwick decided to talk to his more skilled Ravenclaws about that once they'd gotten a chance to settle in.
Flitwick didn't think that would work with Ronald Weasley. That boy wasn't at all motivated to learn. Perhaps it was too early to tell, but the lad seemed to be trying to get away with doing the least amount of work.
At least he wasn't as bad as Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle. Flitwick wasn't sure that they understood English, and some of the other Slytherins were worse as they were making snide comments about the other students and their teacher.
Flitwick at least had gifted first years in his house and plenty to brag about when he was next in the staff room.
Hogwarts College of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Wizarding World.
"Dormammu. I've come to bargain," I called out.
The two redheaded twins stopped halfway up some stairs upon hearing those words and turned to face me, before making some remark about my sanity. I ignored this as I had important business to discuss with these two 'gentlemen'.
It was actually pretty hard to track down people down here at the college if they were a schoolhouse that wasn't your own, I mostly shared classes with Hufflepuffs.
Outside of meal times I rarely saw those students who I didn't share a common room or a classroom with because the school was just so large and the class sizes weren't that big.
I wondered if that had something to do with people not wanting to have children while a scary dark lord was running around killing people or if magical people just didn't have lots of kids.
"Fred, George, I want to buy the map from you," I told the young wizards.
They exchanged looks and talked to it each other in a way that only twins could even while not speaking.
"What map?" one of them asked.
Since I didn't think they'd have much to do with me, not unless they wanted an investor in their joke shop, I wasn't going to even bother trying to tell them apart.
"The Marauder's Map," I said, "Don't bother denying it I know all about it. I even know the real names of those who made it".
They exchanged looks again. Wait, was twin telepathy a real thing in this world? Again this was something to look into at a later date.
"Why do you want it?" one of them asked.
That was not their concern, although the answer should be self-evident as it showed the secret passages and the locations of people within the castle. This would make it much easier for my girls to sneak around, and find people within the castle that we wanted to find.
"How much do you want for it?" I asked, "I have plenty of money".
Since I knew they wanted to start their own business, and because they were older in this timeline they might be already looking for an investor. Someone with enough wealth to give them the starting capital they needed for the creation of their joke products.
"I don't know," one twin said, "It won't be cheap".
Money didn't concern me, but I resisted the urge to offer a lot of it right away as they might demand more, or come to me with more things to sell that I wouldn't need, leading to them bothering me. Best to get this deal over and done with as quickly as possible.
"One hundred Galleons" I was told.
Given the exchange rate, which I had checked, a Galleon was worth between five and six muggle British pounds, depending on the exchange rate, and in 1997 five hundred pounds went a lot further than it would in years to come.
Galleons were not actually pure gold, or to be more precise they were but the goblins did something to increase the volume of the gold so as to make them look bigger and more impressive than they really were.
This was why no clever person had ever melted them down to sell the gold to the Muggle for British pounds they could use to buy more galleons.
"That's a lot of money," I commented.
They exchanged looks yet again.
"We need an investor for some projects we're working on" I was told.
The shop joke shop in Diagon Ally sounded like something fun to help bring about. I guessed that they would use the gold I gave them to create prototypes for their products so as to create interest in their joke stuff and to start making enough money to rent out space for a shop once they'd left this college.
"One hundred galleons it is," I said "And if you ever need a serious investor we talk".
They'd need a business plan and some sort of contract, but I'd be willing to fund them so I knew they could be successful. They managed to set up a new business with a thousand galleons and I'd spent more than that shopping in Diagon Alley before school started.
"Okay give me the map," I said once payments were agreed upon.
Clearly, they weren't willing to part with it right now.
"Only if you tell us the real names of the people who made the map" one twin insisted.
That was not information I wished to share because it would only lead to Sirius Black trying to get the map for Harry Potter
"That will cost you to find out" I said "I can tell you that one of them is teaching at this school. Do you want the money or not?".
They agreed to my terms with the understanding that I never mention that they had ever had the map. I suspected that Black would find out at some point, but by then Raven should have figured out the map for me and made a copy.
"Do you know how to activate it?" I was asked.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," I said
Before they could question me further I headed off to my next lesson.
