On to the next chapter. We'll be at Hogwarts soon!
This chapter contains blips from Merlot and Hermione. I want her entire approach to magic to be different than "yer a muggleborn hermy!"
Instead, I want her approach to reflect how I am writing her character. More scientific, with a desire to understand why magic is, and what it is.
So there will of course be references to some very fun scientific minds that you can research for yourself! Only two in this chapter, but more to come.
Without further ado, let's begin.
—0—
Hermione Hranger was not happy.
No, she was far from it. If you were to see inside her mind, you would understand that a bit of every single emotion except happiness was rolling around within her, but mostly, it was anger.
It had been almost eight months since that stupid festival in Romania, the one where her parents had 'the most delicious wine'. Where she had met the catalyst.
At least, that's what she was calling the girl now. Merlot had been the one who dropped the entire world of magic upon her. Since then she had seen it clearly. Men and women who, at first glance, walked dogs, were shown to be walking other things at second glance, at least to her.
She had seen the man with a large toad that her mother insisted was a poodle, and he had definitely understood the look in her eye.
And although he tried some things with his magic stick, just like Merlot had, he couldn't do anything to change Hermione's memory.
She had assumed that's what several of the magic people she had caught had tried to do, but she was resigned to not allow it. The greatest thing about her was her mind, and she would never allow anyone to alter the information contained within it.
Still, no matter how hard she tried, she could not replicate the magic that Merlot had used. She had done everything she was supposed to. She carved a stick from a tree outside her house, she waved it about while saying gibberish, and while at times she found that strange things happened, they were easily written off as effects of the natural world.
Magic didn't make the domino tile propped on her desk fall over, that was the wind. Even if she didn't feel the wind doing it.
It didn't cause her light bulb to blow. It was an old lightbulb, and they went all the time.
So yes, she was angry.
It didn't help that her parents had stumbled across her trying to use magic. Her father assured her that it was okay, and that they found it cute.
Cute.
Cute was not something that Hermione had considered when diving into a completely unknown world. The fact that there was a girl no older than her who could pick her up and float her through the air was already scary enough. The fact that she knew so many people didn't know about these things was even scarier.
Now that she thought about it, why didn't they know? There were obviously many people with magic in the world, why weren't they ruling it? Did they have certain laws that were used to govern their powers? That would mean that governments knew. That, or they had their very own government that kept everything on the down low.
Maybe that meant that she couldn't find any answers in Newton's writings, or the works of Richard Feynman. Could they have been wizards themselves?
The more Hermione thought about it? The less angry she felt, and the more scared she became. The world was against her. She had let wizards know that she knew about magic and so now everything was being kept from her, even more than it was kept from everyone else.
There was always the possibility that she of course could not use magic, but that was an impossibility in her mind. She was Hermione Jean Granger. She was a ten year old who was educated in the ways of science and mathematics. A new form of science couldn't be beyond her reach, it just wouldn't be fair.
Hermione frowned and sat down on the floor of her room, staring at a book she had been trying to make float as her latest test. If she couldn't have books on the matters of what Merlot had said was magic, she would just discover the extent of such power on her own. She remembered the feeling when the one man with the toad had tried to magic her mind. It felt like a slight tickle in the back of her mind, but a heat from her body had overrun it, pushing the feeling away.
The girl looked at the book again and extended her hand, searching for the same feeling. It was as close to magic as she had come. If her body had rejected the man's spell, then it subconsciously knew what magic was, which meant she could use it.
A feeling of warmth built in Hermione's chest. A slight tingling sensation that then blossomed up to her shoulders and down to her hands. She recalled that each time she heard a spell, the words were elegant, spoken in a different language. With a firm voice, she made her command.
"Wingardium Leviosa"
—0—
"Queen! Queen!"
Merlot chuckled as Despereaux pawed at the back of her hand. "Yes Despereaux, soon we'll go outside."
The rat bobbed its head up and down in a nod, before holding up the sword hairpin that she had given him and letting out a cheer.
"Des-pir-Oo!
Merlot giggled at the little creatures squeak. It was adorable the way he acted around her, especially after she gave him the hairpin from Coppergash. He had become a real life Despereaux.
"He's getting smarter." Charlie nodded, scooping the rat from the girls lap so that she could focus on her charms book. "Soon he'll be reading books along with you. Maybe we should get him a pair of tiny mouse glasses!"
Despereaux wiggled his nose in annoyance and pawed at Charlie's hand. "Queen! Queen!"
"You can go back to her in a second. She has to finish her reading for today." Charlie said. "Ouch!"
The rat tumbled to the tabletop and landed on his hind legs, waving his tiny blade at Charlie, who sucked on the end of his thumb.
"Little bastard got me good. I'm bleeding!"
"Des-pir-oooo!"
Merlot giggled again as the rat scampered back to her hand, keeping his hairpin raised at Charlie as a warning.
"Guess the little guy doesn't care what I have to say." Charlie blinked.
"It's alright Charlie. I'm almost done anyway. Today's charm is quite interesting, actually."
The redhead nodded. "And bloody useful. The bubblehead charm is normally taught in your sixth year, but it's too used to not teach you in advance."
"You picked that up off of the list I wrote down, didn't you." Merlot smirked. It wasn't a question.
"Maybe, maybe not. You had several very interesting charms written down on your 'advanced' list. I simply picked up a few to teach you this year. And before you ask, no, the patronus charm isn't one of them."
Merlot blinked. "Aw, I really want to learn that one too…"
"That's a charm that I am comfortable keeping until later years. Any time you might come across a dementor before then should be taken care of by the adults around, enough said?"
"Yes Charlie…"
"Good. Now, are you actually done with the chapter on the bubblehead charm?"
Merlot nodded. "So can we go and fly now? You said that you'd show me some of the dragons in the basin."
"I said that?" Charlie smirked. "Are you sure?"
Merlot poured. "You and Scortwit were talking about Fleya, and how I could meet her now that she laid her eggs."
Charlie mussed the girls hair with a cheeky grin. "I know, I'm just messing with you. Make sure that your rat is kept safe while you fly."
Merlot grinned. "Yes Charlie. Come on Despereaux!"
The girl closed her book and let the rat scamper up to her shoulder. She quickly pulled on her boots and donned a light cloak, before gently taking Despereaux from her shoulder and placing him in the breast pocket of her shirt.
"Cozy in there?"
"Des-pir-ooo!"
Merlot giggled and fastened the clasp of her cloak closed. Charlie followed her out of the dragon lodge with his broom and waited for her to mount her own.
"All set?"
"Lead the way!"
The two kicked off from the ground and were off, flying swiftly to the tree line and the great forested basin beyond.
Merlot laughed as Charlie did a few tricks and stunts, while Despereaux perked out of her breast pocket to watch the world go by.
"Wheeee!"
"Hang on tight, okay Despereaux?" Merlot smirked.
The girl flattened herself against her broom and sped up, rocketing away from Charlie before pulling up. The redhead watched with a grin as Merlot reached her peak and fell back, her arms spread out as she held her broom in her right hand.
"Having fun?" The young man called, watching as she fell through a small cloud.
Merlot flipped over and remounted her broom in mid-air, before zipping down to Charlie's side.
"Had to keep the tricks gentle, but exciting. You know Despereaux can get motion sick."
Charlie nodded. "How you doing little guy?"
"Des-pir-oooo!"
"Glad to hear it." Charlie laughed. "Come on, let's go see Fleya."
Charlie dipped his head down and resumed their course. Merlot followed swiftly after him, watching as the trees below grew bigger and bigger. The tops of the trees dipped down into the basin as the forest canopy grew thicker, and Charlie veered right, towards the large mountain in the south east.
"Right where the foot of the mountain meets the basin, that's where the cave is. Scortwit should be there already." Charlie shouted over the wind. "We'll land at that clearing over there!"
Merlot nodded and began to descend to the clearing that Charlie had motioned to. The redhead landed next to her and dismounted from his broom, before tilting it over his shoulder.
"Come on, it's only a short walk from here."
The two walked into the lush forest of the preserves great basin. Merlot noted that there were several fossils in some of the rocks they passed. Mostly small shells, but here and there a few fossilized creatures that resembled winged squid.
"Choobleysquits." Charlie answered. "One of the magical species that went extinct a very very long time ago. There are still legends about them. You might know of William-the-wisps."
"Little lights that guide you into the forest?"
"That's what Choobleysquits are. They lived in forests and glowed on their own. Now we only have their fossils around, but who knows? Magic has strange ways of causing things to return." Charlie smiled. "It's just up ahead, come on!"
The two picked up the pace and ran up the gentle slope of the forest floor, coming to a stop beside a large cave.
"Strange… Scortwit should be waiting here…"
A groan caused them to turn towards a large tree. Scortwit was there, slumped against the tree trunk, a large bump growing on the side of his head.
"Sir? What happened?" Charlie rushed to the man's side. "Are you alright?"
The man blinked as he came to. "Charlie? Someone came and hit me from behind. Did you see-"
A roar sounded from the cave.
"Fleya." Scortwit said hoarsely. "I have to-"
"Stay here. I'll check on her. Merlot, can you let an eye on him?"
"I've got it." The girl nodded.
Charlie drew his wand and walked up to the mouth of the cave, lighting his wand as he approached. "Who goes there? I should warn you, I am prepared to fight, even if I must kill you."
The cold tone surprised Merlot. The Charlie that stood at the mouth of the cave was different from the one who helped raise her. His eyes held the same intelligence in a cold manner. The grip on his wand was slightly different, and he was posed to react in an instant. This Charlie. He wasn't lying. He was prepared to kill.
Another roar sounded, and Charlie leapt to the side as a blast of fire shot from the depths of the cave.
A cloaked figure, face covered by a drawn up hood, leapt from the cave, carrying a large black egg beneath one arm. A bone white wand was clasped in their left hand.
Scortwits eyes widened at the sight of the wand. Charlie leapt to his feet, quickly firing off a red spell. The cloaked figure blocked it and swept their wand in an arc, summoning a wave of cold wind that blasted Charlie from his feet.
The figure dashed off into the woods, waving their wand and causing the trees to bend behind them, covering their path. Charlie swore as he got to his feet.
"Stay here."
With not another word, he mounted his broom and took off. Merlot moved to stand, but Scortwit grabbed the hem of her cloak.
"Stay."
"I have to help in some way."
"You must stay! He will kill you!" Scortwit insisted.
"Who will kill me?"
Scortwit was unable to answer as a roar sounded from the cave. Merlot turned to see a great black dragon slither out from the earthen depths.
Great wings unfurled as the dragon stared the child down, one eye was swollen and bloody, while the other was wide and dilated.
"They hurt her…" Merlot gasped.
"Behind me, quickly!"
Scortwit leapt up and raised his wand, just as the dragon spewed a wave of fire in their direction.
Sweat beaded on the wizards brow as he held the shield, keeping Merlot safe from oblivion. As the stream of flames Peres out, Scortwit let the shield fall, before shouting as loud as he could.
Merlot watched with wide eyes as the man's voice boomed throughout the world, magic causing his command to weave its way into the dragons mind.
"OAL THU, DI DIG ADIE THROGOU SHU FORCAI- VA ANESHA THREEK SEK FORCAI!"
The black dragon craned its neck in a bow, before lumbering back into its cave. Scortwit sighed and slumped to his knees.
"Scortwit!" Merlot rushed to her guardian's side.
"I'm quite alright."The man smiled weakly. "Just doing that… it takes a lot of effort."
"Charlie showed me a memory, about how you used it to kill a dragon." Merlot admitted.
"Gore…" Scortwit nodded, his face dark. "Charlie showed you that memory? I will have words with him. It is not something that a child should witness."
"All due respect sir. I'm not a normal child." Merlot spoke.
"No." Scortwit nodded slowly, before smiling and patting her shoulder. "No, you aren't. You're strong, talented."
Merlot propped her broom on the nearest tree and sat down next to Scortwit. "How do you do it anyway?"
"Do what?" Scortwit asked.
"Command the dragons?" Merlot blinked. "This is the second time I've seen you do it. It's even more impressive seeing it with my own eyes, instead of through a memory."
Scortwit chuckled. "It's not all that impressive. I don't actually like doing it all that much. It feels demeaning to the dragons who obey."
"It's quite impressive. And I don't think it's all that demeaning. They respect you. I think they are happy to listen to you when you use your gift."
Scortwit nodded, looking at the new leaves on the trees. A few moments passed, before he spoke. "What do you know about bloodlines?"
"Bloodlines?"
"Yes."
"I know that there are several distinctions in the magical world. Wizards born of mundanes, so called pure bloods, and then half bloods and everything in between." Merlot nodded. "I don't really think it's accurate to say that Purebloods are more powerful, despite what the books say."
Scortwit nodded. "You are correct, in a sense. Mundane born wizards are incredibly strong. To date, there is not a line that isn't born of a new generation wizard. They hold an ability to absorb knowledge faster than others, and their interest in magic is further driven by a desire to understand. Magic is special to them, and because of that, they want to learn how to use it."
Merlot's mind flashed to Hermione Granger, the girl from the wine festival. She didn't know why, but she had a gut feeling that the girl could use magic.
"Many purebloods, as they are called, don't like this idea. They have the personal outlook that change is bad. New magics are bad. They would rather contain power, both magical and political, in their grubby hands. The difference is that they have fallen out of touch with what the strongest wizards revere. The old ways of using magic. A sacred art instead of a given right." Scortwit spoke. "And then there are half bloods. Wizards and witches born to magical parents with mundane roots. They are the in between. Most of the changes in the world tend to actually stem from them, as they may hate mundanes, or despise wizard kind."
Merlot nodded as Scortwit continued.
"Well, besides that. There are other things when it comes to blood." Scortwit cleared his throat. "The easiest way I can describe it is family magic. There are spells that are guarded by different pureblood families, different skills… but these are different. Bloodline traits."
"Bloodline traits…" Merlot repeated slowly.
"Yes. Manifestations of overflowing family magic. Not everyone has them, and there are a few different types."
Merlot nodded, hanging on to every word.
"Some families have 'creature inheritances' which give a child some magical abilities that a magical creature might have. These could be things as simple as above average height from a giant, or as complex as the mind shields of a three eyed dugbog. Next are blood magics, magics that a wizard or witch is born with knowledge of inherently. Even if they tell another how to use the magic, that person will never be able to figure out how to cast it, unless they share blood with that person." Scortwit held up two fingers. "And lastly, the most common, are what we call magical talents."
"Magical talents?"
"An umbrella term for anything that doesn't fit under the first term. Magical talents also show up differently. They are the only traits that show up in mundane borns, or in the re emergence of dormant lines, as well as in pureblood families. They can be anything. Even your ability to speak to snakes can be considered a talent."
"Really?"
"Really." Scortwit nodded. "I was the son of a mundane born wizard, and a squib. Upon entering gringotts, we found that my mother- the squib- was a descendant of an ancient family line. The last magical member having died out three centuries ago."
"And they could speak to dragons."
"They could speak to dragons. Speak, but not control." Scortwit pointed out. "For some reason, our magic just allows us to hear a dragons voice speaking in our common tongue, and it allows the dragon to understand our common words. That is the magic talent of the Scortwit line."
"Then how do you control the dragons?"
Scortwit frowned. "There were rumors written down in my archaic family vault. If a member of our family lost something, they could awaken the power of a dragon lord. Of course, such an idea was horrible…"
"You lost Alana…" Merlot breathed.
"You saw her in those memories, didn't you… yes. I lost Alana, and our unborn child, Eden." Scortwit smiled sadly. "The loss was enough to make me a dragon lord."
Merlot nodded. "Does Charlie have a talent?"
Scortwit chuckled. "He does. His family has a bit of a history. One thing happened here, another there. It turns out that all of his siblings and him have talents, very good ones at that."
"So what can Charlie do?"
"He is what you would call a tribalist. His magic can take on different aspects around different creatures. It makes him a great worker here, especially because he's immune to a dragons breath."
"Really?" Merlot gawked.
Scortwit nodded. "I saw him walk through it with my very own eyes. Blew my mind the first time he did it."
Merlot crossed her arms. "Compared to you two… my ability to speak to snakes seems small…"
"It is far from it. You have a much more versatile talent. And even then, I believe it could just be a trait from that piece of soul that's bonded to you. Perhaps you have something else below the surface. You never know."
Merlot nodded. "Maybe…"
Scortwit breathed out a sigh. "My head is still killing me… don't think it would be a good idea to go back on my own. Can you fly me back to the lodge?"
Merlot nodded. "Of course. Let me grab my broom."
A few minutes later, the dragon lord and his child hovered into the air. Merlot smiled as she took Scortwits hands and placed them in front of her. "Hold on tight okay? We go faster than your broom, you know."
Scortwit paled. "I should have just waited for Charlie to get back…"
"Maybe." Merlot grinned. "But it's too late now. No takesies backsies."
Scortwit smiled nervously. "Uhm, Merlot. My head still hurts. Please… take it SLOOOOOOOOOOW!"
And just like that, they were off to the lodge, with Scortwit screaming all the way.
—0—
Hermione grinned as she moved her hand up slowly, bringing the last book for her tests up to it's allocated spot on her bookshelf.
The girl smiled, having not moved an inch from where she was sitting at the center of her room. All of the test items had been returned to their regular organization through the use of levitation.
"I can definitely get used to this."
—0—
Chapter twenty one, done and dusted.
I hope you liked the part on Hermione. And if you haven't figured it out, the Merlot parts were setting up for the philosopher's stone arc.
Also, I love writing Despereaux, he is so bloody cute!
I want to set one thing straight before I hear any complaints about it. Creature inheritance and blood traits. This is my take on it. There is no phoenix powers through blood. Creature inheritances are rare, and pretty low on the list of uber powerful abilities. For an example, Goyle has the three eyed dugbog trait mentioned earlier, but as a result, he is also just as bright as a three eyed dugbog.
This also plays into some more important characters, like the weasleys. Note how I said that all of them have talents. What do you think Ron can do?
I'll let you think about it. Maybe even leave a review with your guess.
Until next time, Adios