Rimuru's POV

You wanna know how that cooking competition went, right? Well… Molly had no chance. She made a great casserole. However, Gordzee made pepperoni fried steaks.

Casserole, as English and iconic a mother's dish as it is… Well, it just can't compete with deep-fried steak. I didn't even know about deep-fried steak, let alone steak fried in pepperoni oil.

I made sure to add it to my recipe catalog.

Gordzee was left in charge of the kitchens, but Molly was still the head chef. Gordzee would be treated more like a 'kitchen spirit' who had the final say and could inspire cooks as he pleased.

He even offered to teach the 'stupid wizard children' to cook, after seeing how bad their attempts were.

Mr. Weasley meanwhile was given a small office in one of the towers. His job was simple, he'd go out and hire these 'squibs' and/or interview them here.

So now there were a good ten or twelve new magically-limited people wandering about the school doing janitorial duties, or working in the kitchens.

I felt kinda bad for them, being surrounded by magic yet having such limited magic themselves. The ones that still had any at all were slowly losing it, and by the time they reached adulthood, they'd have almost none left.

I felt tempted to fix it, but held my hand. I didn't want to disturb the balance of the world any more than I already had.

Now though, I was stuck doing laundry for the entire school. We couldn't use magic either, apparently 'cause messing up a cleaning spell once would be 'really bad.'

I didn't think I could mess up a simple spell even if I cast it 100 times, with no incantation, while eating, doing paperwork, and having Shuna glare at me, all at the same time. It was stupid that they wouldn't even let me try.

So, I was stuck doing it the old-fashioned way, and I mean the old-fashioned way, alongside the world's worst complainers, aka the Weasley twins. They didn't make for good company while being forced to wash clothes on grates in big basins of soapy water. It was flabbergasting that in this day and age, they didn't have any sort of washing machines, magical or not.

I needed to do something about it. This was just too far.

Putting an end to the enslavement of an entire race is one thing, but this was more of a personal gripe. I'd need to sort it out with this body's limitations because going as far as changing the world's rules for it seemed impetuous.

"Uh… done." I looked over at the other two after finishing my portion.

Filch was staring at the two boys like they were the scum of the earth; that was one thing I was grateful for, the man seemed to hate them both a lot more than he hated me. I wasn't sure if it was because of past transgressions, or just the fact that they openly complained a ton more than I did, but the sour-faced man seemed to have a vendetta against the two boys.

It was convenient enough for me since I finished faster that way. Clearing up some time for me to work on something of my own, specifically… I kinda wanted to make a toaster oven. It would make cooking snacks a lot easier.

There was this pesky spell on the school, though. I'd detected it when I first got here. Some sort of barrier, with one of its included effects being interference with modern technology. Why someone would put in such an asinine spell was inconceivable to me.

You'd think that wizard students could learn a lot from 'muggle tech', considering that this culture seems too focused on magic and nothing outside of that, but apparently not. It was frowned upon, I guess, to use stuff that 'muggles' invented anytime later than the Stone Age.

[[Actually, the state of technology in wizarding society is more accurately comparable to–]]

I know, Ciel, I know…

…

My roommate seemed confused when she walked in and there was a big metal box on our single shared desk. I didn't care though, she never seemed to use the thing for homework anyway.

"What is that?" Gabriella asked flatly.

"An amazing invention that will blow your mind."

"Hm. I doubt it." Her face looked just as uninterested as her tone sounded, but that was the norm for this girl.

Regardless of what she said, my quest header was to "complete an amazing invention" so, I was still right.

Unfortunately, I'd probably need to part with it, my amazing creation… As to force these wizards to make magitech, they'd need tech to start with.

A travesty, but a necessary one.

[[Dear, it is just a toaster oven. You can make another with ease.]]

But it won't be the same!

Ciel, despite all her emotional development over the years, still couldn't understand my plight.

"What's it supposed to be?" Gabriella's voice snapped me out of my internal dialogue with my partner. "A box? For keepsakes?"

So this girl is interested in it! I guess my invention looks so incredible that she can't keep up her usual facade of indifference.

"It is a toaster oven… Or, well… it will be. It's just a box for now."

"So it is a keepsake box then…" She seemed insistent about that for some reason. Maybe she was simply projecting a bit.

I couldn't come up with a way to argue it wasn't that, at least until I could finish the thing.

So, I dedicated myself to working on it for the time being, even if finding the stuff I needed in this world would be exceedingly difficult.

I mainly used the nights to work on it since I was still expected to go to classes and stuff. This was annoying, but not the end of the world.

"Put that thing down and go to bed, Rimuru!" Gabriella said in a voice more forceful than I'd ever heard from her.

The distraction was enough to make me drop the hot soldering iron I'd made out of a metal pen. "Huh? But I gotta finish my toaster oven!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose tightly before her face turned even more red and she yelled yet again. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"You'll be fine. Just plug your ears or something if the noise is bothering you." Mortals– er, I mean children really are more inconsiderate than I remembered.

She rolled back into her pillow, dragging her hands across her face like a cat cleaning itself. "And how are you even awake, you haven't slept for three days! I haven't either… except for in charms class today. Professor Flitwick wasn't happy…"

"If you can sleep through a class, you can sleep through this."

"You're a bloody pillock if you think this is alright!"

"Bloody pillock? That's a new one."

Gabriella dramatically sighed, rolled her eyes, and stuffed her pillow on top of her head as she turned away from me.

…

It took me the rest of a day and a half even after those three days of straight work… At least at night. Now it was complete, with a new adaptation of runic magic I'd made specifically for this world.

I was very careful to craft these runes in a way where they'd be incompatible with any memory or soul magic, just to make extra sure this world doesn't happen upon summoning.

I'd be a little upset if they started enslaving teenagers with the elves being free now.

Regardless, with the slight mods I'd made, some with Ciel's help, I didn't need to worry about it. Instead, I simply had a self-regulating toaster oven with various food settings and the ability to cool your food so you don't burn yourself.

It was perfect.

I'd work on a rice cooker next, but that would need some more modifications since I wanted it to double as something to speed up potion brewing. I wasn't gonna sit brewing some subpar potion for literal years.

I set up the toaster oven to work with enough magic power for a day of use, then finally went to bed.

I'd show it to everyone the next day.

…

I walked into the dining hall, lugging along my toaster oven. I hadn't really considered the size of the thing much, but it was still portable enough. Didn't need a generator to work after all… Or well, I guess I am the generator, or whoever was using it at the time was.

Regardless, I got quite a few stares as I made my way to my own little part of the table with my little group of followers. I wouldn't call them friends, considering my reasons for being here.

I ignored anything Sebastian had to say for now so I could set up the toaster oven, then looked at what was for breakfast to see if it would be worth it to toast it.

Luckily, it was croissants.

Well, that was the first worthwhile item I spotted, at least.

I could make toasted croissants and then layer them in jam, it was the perfect use for a toaster oven. "Hey, Sebastian. Give me one of those trays."

"Rimuru, we aren– They said two per student…" Sebastian seemed more worried about how the other students would react to us taking more than our fair share than anything as his eyes darted around to spot anyone who may have been listening. Since the in-school food shortage, many of these kids had grown downright ravenous, even territorial over the newly-improved menu since Gordzee had taken over the kitchen.

"I'll share, just hand 'em to me. I'm gonna make them tastier."

"I guess we can try to pilfer a few extra for ourselves…" He muttered as he walked over to the tray and was quick to carry it over.

"Next, I need some jam."

"Stop treating me like a manservant, Rimuru…" He listened regardless of his grumbling, grabbing me a jar of jam from nearby.

"Ugh… it's full of seeds…"

Seeds were the worst, especially in jam. Sure, I could just absorb or delete them, but that was a pain. Not just that, but I always seemed to forget to do that whenever I eat jam!

Instead, the seeds annoyingly get stuck in my teeth every time. Right then though, I didn't even have my skills to lean on.

I would just have to tolerate it this time.

I began slicing and setting croissants in their trays to be toasted before focusing back on the students around me. I hoped that the display was outlandish enough for them to take note of.

I did seem to be grabbing a good deal of attention, which was good. Time to make the magic happen; literally.

It was done quickly enough, and from there I layered them in jam and placed them on plates.

"Does anyone wanna try it first?"

Ginny, who appeared to have sat somewhere else today changed her mind and approached the table I was at with Sebastian again. My guess is she just wanted to catch up with some of her other friends, but this must've been more interesting. "Could I? Not sure what that thing is, but the bread looks edible."

"Yeah, sure. You can have the first one."

I handed her the toasted croissant, already jammed up and ready to eat, and waited for her reaction.

She gave a resounding hmph. "The texture is nice, but what did you do to it? What even is that… thing?"

"A toaster oven. What d'you think? Isn't it useful?"

"What else can you even do with a 'toaster oven'?"

"Lots of things!" There had to be a good way to explain it, so I came up with something. "You can cook meat automatically, or make pastries… You don't even need to watch it, it'll just finish it and cool it on its own."

"Didn't you just bring that from home? I have something like that back home," Sebastian muttered. It wasn't that he was completely unimpressed, just sort of confused, it seemed.

"No, I made it. It's a magic-powered version inspired by the 'something' you have back home."

"Wait, is this based on some sort of muggle device?" Ginny asked.

"Toaster ovens are 'muggle devices', Ginny."

"And you made it run with a spell, Rimuru?"

"Isn't that what I said?" I sighed. "There's more to it than that, but it has a few spells, yes."

"If my dad sees this thing… oh, I can't even imagine how worked up he would get!" Ginny sounded almost dismayed at the idea.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "He'd get mad?" I asked. This wasn't what I was expecting at all.

"No! The opposite! It'd be the worst!"

"Ah, alright. Well, this is yours then. I can always make another." I could feel my roommate glaring at me from another table. That girl should just invest in some earplugs and get over it.

Ginny blinked a few times, still staring at the toaster oven.

"I guess I'll find some use for it…" She grumbled. "Have to hide it from my dad…" she whispered so quietly that only I could hear, although I didn't think I was supposed to.

…

"...and then that greasy old rat man took 5 points from Gryffindor! Just for me breathing during his class!"

"You sighed, Ron. Loudly. That doesn't necessarily justify Professor Snape's punishment, but you did disrupt class."

"I was just breathing!"

"Well, it was sorta loud." That Harry kid seemed annoyed by the small argument, probably because he had his mind elsewhere.

The reason I was spying on them wasn't him, though. Ginny had said she wanted to go talk to him, yet so far she'd just sat there without saying a word.

I didn't think her crush made a lick of sense, for someone so unexceptional especially, but this was too awkward. She needed a confidence boost.

Or, just for her brother to shut up. A change of subject could accomplish that.

I did have a reason of my own to approach them; I was wondering what the Hermione girl thought about the house elves, or simply elves as they should be called now. So, I got up and walked over to the table, taking a seat next to her without a word at first.

She hadn't really noticed me with the intense focus on her book.

"Hello, Hermione." I decided to break her focus maliciously. She seemed to be trying to do some schoolwork, while both eating and arguing with Ron.

Hermione looked up from what she was doing and narrowed her eyes at me. "You just walked off, after I went through all that effort to educate you…" She pouted like you'd expect of someone her age. "What is it this time?"

"I just wanted your opinion on current events."

She just stared at me for a moment, probably deciding whether she should even talk to me. Hermione still seemed pretty bent out of shape from how I ended our last conversation.

"I think she means the house elv–" The redheaded boy butted in before Hermione could find her words.

"I know what she meant, Ronald!" She snapped viciously at him.

"Don't call me that! Only my mum can call me Ronald!"

"Well, maybe you should stop being such an arse then."

"Anyway," I interjected. "Back to the topic of the elves, what do you think of them all springing free?"

"I think I want to know your thoughts first… You left me without offering anything to think about."

"Fair enough. I'm happy for them. They deserve freedom." I paused. "Doesn't everyone think slavery is bad?" I gave a sharp glance around the table. I wanted to make sure the kids weren't bitter about this.

"They weren't slaves, they were servants…" Ron grumbled.

"They all seemed to like it… What's wrong with that?"

"If they liked it so much, they wouldn't have escaped like they did." Hermione argued, "Isn't that true, Rimuru? You agree with me, surely."

I just nodded. The girl made a good point with the info she had.

I glanced at Ginny, who was still sitting quietly, glaring at her brother, red-faced. The girl looked incredibly uncomfortable with the situation. She glanced between me and Harry for a moment and then sighed. "Did any of you hear about the gift I got from Rimuru?"

"Oh, the hot-box?"

"It's a toaster oven." I immediately corrected him curtly.

"A toaster oven?" Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Such a thing would not work here. There is no electricity at Hogwarts and there is a ward against devices like household appliances."

"It's not just a toaster oven, it's a magic-powered toaster oven. Rimuru made it herself," Ginny finally seemed to find her words.

I decided to clarify that right away. "It's magic-powered, yes, but it should be able to hold charge. Meaning normal people could use it too."

"Yes, and I'm… hiding it from dad… so don't tell him, Ron! You know what would happen if you did!"

Ron made a 'zipping his lips' motion then threw his hands up in acquiescence.

"What would happen?" Harry elbowed the other boy and asked in a harsh whisper.

"He's muggle-mad. Obsessed over anything muggles make or do. I think he would end up in the infirmary if he found this… toastie oven."

"Well, what's wrong with that? Obviously, you can learn a lot from 'muggles.'" Even if his father sounded like a nerd (I did kinda get the 'nerd' impression from him before), with how backward wizards were, they had a lot of catching up to do. "Maybe I'll tell him, I plan on making more stuff like this. Maybe it'd even be possible to make something for 'muggles' to cast spells."

That Harry kid seemed to focus on me at that line. "You should just give up, real magic is much better than some toaster." Harry huffed, "All muggles have to teach is how to be cruel! Why should we share magic with them!?"

"Harry…" Ginny trailed off as she stared at him in shock. Obviously, she wasn't expecting this sudden outburst from her crush.

"Muggles are horrible and hateful… wizards and witches are better people…"

"Harry, I know your family are like that, but you shouldn't generalize," Hermione interjected, looking a bit hurt. With her being 'muggle-born', her entire family was made up of 'muggles.'

"It's not just my family." he dropped his voice, then sat up straight, more agitated than before. "And if muggles can use magic stuff like that, what would it leave for wizards?! How would we be special?!" He seemed to have a bit of insecurity, and it was a bad one.

So I didn't mind harshly correcting it. "Why should wizards be special? People are people, magic or not. They can be bad, and they can be good. It's that simple." It was making me somewhat more frustrated that this silly dichotomy existed, and that despite the possibility of fixing it, no one made the effort.

"I know there are bad wizards too." Harry angrily muttered, thumbing the scar on his forehead. He wasn't addressing the crux of my argument, likely because he couldn't.

It seemed Ginny didn't like the development too much. She pulled on my sleeve from across the table, then got up and started walking back to our original place. She gestured for me to follow along the way.

That was how I ended up back at our table, staring across at her with a bit of suspicion. "So, since they don't seem to be too enthused, can we show the oven to your dad?"

"Rimuru. I don't know." The girl in front of me sighed softly, before looking around and taking the situation in. Decidedly though, after a few moments. She finally relented. "We can show him when he finds out, but you don't go telling him."

"Alright then." I smiled softly.

…

The day closed out without any more drama, or at least I thought so. Already chilling in my dorm, wearing pajamas and reading a book that definitely wasn't from the restricted section of the library, I was about to call it a night and get some shut-eye.

"There's some Gryffindors out in the hall looking for you," Gabriella stuck her head into our room, wearing her usual unamused expression.

For me? Well, that didn't make any sense, unless it was that trio from earlier.

I hid the book under my pillow, leaving it open on the page I stopped, and hopped down just like I always did. Using the ladder was pointless and a waste of my time.

Gabriella sighed and I shot her a "Thanks." as I passed her.

Once I got through the snake-door and into the corridor, I found two first-year girls in Gryffindor robes standing there, looking uncomfortable and hesitant. I recognized one of them from the train, she was one of the two others in the cabin I was in alongside Ginny.

"Need something?" I asked calmly. Obviously, if they were delving into Hogwarts' dungeons at night just to find little old me, then it was something serious.

"You're friends with Ginny Weasley… right?" One of them cautiously asked/

"Sure." Friends was a slight stretch, but the term was close enough.

"Well… we are too!" The girl sounded more insistent than she needed to.

"Okay…" Get to the point already!

"We need your help… with her." The quieter of the pair muttered as she stared at her own feet, kneading her hands together nervously.

"She's been crying all evening!"

"And won't tell us why. Do… do you know? Did something happen to her?"

"Not that I know of."

Nothing happened, per se, but I could imagine why Ginny might be upset. But, I didn't think she would sob over it after the fact. But, then again, she's just a little kid.

She wasn't happy earlier, but she was holding herself together just fine. Maybe she was more bothered than I first thought.

I really do need to get better at reading people without using skills and Ciel… At least at moments where my country's or even my world's fate doesn't rest on my shoulders. When I take things seriously, I'm halfway decent at that sort of thing, but when I'm off my guard, not so much.

And, in this world, I'd been off my guard the entire time, with severely-dulled senses to boot.

[[Take this as a learning experience, Dear. I know you have been wanting to improve yourself for a while.]]

Yeah, I need to catch up to you. You've always been too good for me, Ciel, and I need to fix that by becoming better.

Ciel never liked it when I put it like that, but it was the truth; I didn't compare to her.

[[... We can discuss this later.]] Her small hesitation was a sign of that 'not liking it', clearly. Ciel only paused when her still-developing emotions got in the way of her impeccable logic.

I turned my attention back to the outside world. That little conversation with Ciel lasted less than a few seconds since I'd sped up my thoughts somewhat. Not nearly as fast as I could've handled in my main body, but enough to make it so we could talk briefly without any issues.

"Ginny is no fun like this… and I feel bad for her."

"Come with us. Maybe you could fix her."

"Fine." This seemed like trouble to me, but I could deal with it. I was up for it, even if I was dressed for bed and barefoot. "Where to?"

"The Gryffindor dorms."

"We'll sneak you in."

I nodded. This was breaking the rules, but I didn't mind one bit. I suppose I cared more about Ginny than this specific rule. She was nice enough to me to deserve a little comforting.

"Here. Put this on." One of them handed me a robe identical to her own.

So they're smart enough to come up with a disguise, at least. This'll work.

I slipped it on over my pajamas, which felt a bit weird. It was also a size too big, meaning the hem touched the floor like it shouldn't.

The pair stared at me for a moment, "If we come across someone in the corridor, hide your eyes," The bolder of the two ordered.

"They will give you away," the quieter added.

I knew my eyes faintly glowed in the dark and were easily recognizable. I would've done what they said even if they hadn't told me to.

I waved them off, "I know, I know. I wasn't born yesterday, girls."

They eyed each other and then motioned for me to follow as they started walking away.

Even though they tried to whisper, while we walked I overheard a "Why does Ginny even like her?" followed by "At least she's nice enough to help us. Now, be quiet, or she'll hear!"

I still didn't know what I could do that these two couldn't in this situation. If they're her friends, then why couldn't one of them be the shoulder for Ginny to cry on? I guess they just were not mature enough for the task.

They kept glancing back at me to make sure I was following, but it didn't take terribly long to reach the Gryffindor dorms, guarded by a living painting of a plump woman. She gave me a suspicious look when I showed up with the two girls, but didn't stop me when I followed them inside, surprisingly.

"Don't worry, 'The Fat Lady' knows why you're here." One of the girls whispered to me. "She promised not to tattle."

That's a pretty rude thing to call someone. Not that I saw living paintings much as people.

The few students in the Gryffindor common room didn't pay us even a passing glance, not that there were too many up at this hour. It was close to curfew.

I was hurriedly ushered up the narrow, winding staircase on the girls' side and all but shoved into one of the rooms.

It was dark and quiet, outside of some muffled sobs and murmurs.

I was never good at the whole 'comforting people' thing.

"Ginny?"

The sounds stopped.

"Ginny, it's Rimuru. Your… uh, friends brought me here to talk to you."

I heard a sniffle from the girl, but nothing else.

"C'mon, I snuck all the way over here, so at least tell me why you're crying."

"Go back to your dorm, Rimuru. I'm fine."

"Is this about that Harry boy? Listen, I get that your percep–"

"J-just… go away! Leave me alone! You're not supposed to be here!"

I sighed loudly to make sure Ginny heard me, "Don't go lashing out at me just because your crush wasn't what you thought he was."

"Rimuru, I swear I'll… I-I'll… report you! To McGonagall! And Snape! They'll have your hide for this!"

Empty threats from a defensive child. I knew she wouldn't follow through with those, but I also knew that if she didn't pipe down that someone else might.

I didn't even need to say anything for her to calm down a little, "You have it wrong… you have it all wrong. I just… wish I knew Harry better. I thought I knew enough, but…"

"Did you think he was all sunshine and rainbows?"

"No!" Ginny yelled, then dropped her voice again, "No… he just has things going on in his life that I had no clue about. That I still have no clue about! Ron talked about Harry's family being a basket of rotten apples… the family he lives with, not his late parents. But, he overcame You Know Who! Harry is the Boy Who Lived! He's amazing and brave, and strong, but kind and open and handsome and–" Ginny cut herself off and took a deep breath. "H-how can he be so shaken and bitter just talking about his family being cruel? That's what he meant when he insulted all muggles, I think. I know that much isn't the truth, all muggles being horrible people. My dad wouldn't be so fond of them if they were."

I just stood there patiently, waiting to see if the girl was finished.

"I guess my point is… I'm frustrated and confused. I still like Harry oh so much, but I need to know more about him. I need to, if I want to… be with him."

"Be with him? Isn't it a bit early for that? You're only 11."

Ginny gave me an incredulous look.

"So rude sometimes…" the girl grumbled angrily under her breath. "So? Do you have anything else to say? I just poured my heart out, so say something."

"You should talk to Harry. Y'know, to hear out his story."

"B-but… I can't just walk up to him and ask…"

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"I didn't think you were this shy, Ginny."

"I'm not!"

"Stop shouting, please. I'd rather not get put on laundry duty again." If Ginny got me caught, I'd be pretty pissed.

I continued, "The worst thing he could say is 'no.' I'm sure you can deal with that."

I get the fear of rejection, I really do; that exact feeling was what scared me out of dating completely in my past life right up until the moment I was stabbed to death. But that wasn't the case here. Ginny wasn't even asking that boy out, just asking to talk about his backstory.

Ginny spluttered a bit before saying something comprehensible again, "You just don't understand…" she sighed, "Maybe I could just hound Ron until he tells me more. He says Harry tells him everything."

"Do you really think he's a reliable source?"

"Probably not." Ginny sighed deeply, before taking a few deep breaths. "What would you do in a situation like this?"

"Hm? Well, I guess I wouldn't really care much. He doesn't seem that special, and I mean that genuinely."

"How could you say that? He beat You Know Who!" She sorta shrieked, so I had to quiet her with a finger to the lips.

"No. He was a baby. He didn't beat anyone. If anything, 'Mister Who' simply got tricked and fell into a trap the boy's parents set up to protect him." I made my best guess and waited for a moment for her to rationalize that. "Doesn't that sound much more likely?"

"Maybe… but I don't think so…" Ginny started grumbling to herself, stewing on the idea.

"You should get some sleep." I was perfectly fine with the girl being left like that. Rather than overtly upset, there wasn't anything wrong with stewing on conflicted thoughts.

Particularly with the subject changed.

"If I sleep, will you leave?"

"Yeah, I'll get outta your hair. But if you look tired in the morning, I'll tell Sebastian you have a crush on him. One so bad it kept you up all night. I'm sure he would love to hear that. He's lonely, y'know. Hearing you like him like that would make his year for sure."

"Don't you dare! If you do, I'll… I'll tell him you have a crush on him too! I'll tell everyone you do!" Another empty threat from the girl, one I could easily ignore.

"Ciao, Ginny," I waved at her.

After that, I left the room and snuck my way back to the Slytherin dorms.

Along the way, I ditched those gaudy robes somewhere in the halls, since I didn't need 'em.

…

It was really only a matter of time, and no less than a day and a half later, I was called into Mr. Weasley's new office to talk about a certain 'illegal magical device' as the letter put it. Though, I knew in reality he was just covering himself.

Especially with him requesting 'A detailed schematic for Ministry review.'

I chortled at the idea of requesting something like that from a supposed eleven-year-old, not that I couldn't handle it well enough.

So, with my freshly sketched-up schematic in hand, I made my way to the room stated in the letter. Probably the man's office or something, given to him after he was hired.

After knocking on the door, I entered. The room was pretty small for an office, but it was still an office. Maybe this was all the school could spare for someone hired in the middle of the school year on little notice.

I felt just a little bad for Mr. Weasley, because I wouldn't want to work all day in this cramped space, and this is coming from someone well-acquainted with the art of paperwork and other office-related tasks.

"What does this button do?" Said Mr. Weasley was pestering his daughter, pointing at every function he could find and prodding her limited knowledge. By now, the girl had recovered from that night of crying, although I don't think she'd spoken a word to that Harry boy since.

"I already said I don't know." The girl looked and sounded defeated by this point and glanced behind past me staring at the door. Well, that is, until she realized I was there. "Rimuru!"

"Yoo-hoo." I waved my hand lightly.

"You come and explain this. I am so sick of him." Ginny huffed and crossed her arms.

"Isn't that a bit rude, Ginny?" Mr. Weasley looked immediately downtrodden by the comment from his daughter. I could understand it though, I wouldn't want a certain someone to say that to me either.

"So, what's all this about then? You seem excited, mister." I tried my best to be polite, just to calm the air a little.

"Mr. Weasley, please. Or just Weasley… Maybe Arthur is fine."

"Arthur it is then." I knew he was trying to be all formal at first, but that kind of thing was just tiring. The man was clearly a pushover too, so I didn't care to push it.

I set the schematic on the desk in front of him and flashed my best smile. "I brought what you asked for."

Arthur smiled back before taking a look, "Wonderful! Now, let me see… blimey, did you draw this yourself?" His eyes looked like they were gonna fall out of their sockets he was goggling so hard at the paper.

"It's nothing." I waved him off. "Got any questions?" I didn't want to focus on anything unnecessary, since it was better to maximize his impression of the product.

"How did you come up with this idea? To take a device from muggles and modify it to work off of magic?"

"In general?"

"Yes, taking two incompatible things and making them one! I study muggles and their culture and the way they live and I've never seen a wizard do such a thing. It doesn't make sense when you could practice your spellcraft instead."

"Incompatible? See, that's where you're wrong, Arthur. Just look around us and you can spot a dozen different things that 'muggles' invented centuries ago before being adapted by wizards. The only thing I did differently was apply this mindset to something more modern."

For someone who supposedly studies non-magical humans, he's surprisingly ignorant when it comes to them.

"While some wizards enchant muggle technology, it usually isn't as useful as more advanced spells. Additionally, when you don't understand something, it's easy to hurt yourself." He sighed softly. "I attempted to charge… What's it called again? Oh yes, a 'car battery'. Using a spell, I tried to 'charge' the thing to help a muggle woman, and I ended up causing the whole contraption to catch fire! We have one of them; a car. Still don't understand 'em though. Not one bit. Baffling things, muggles come up with…"

(Authors' Note: Due to it being completely incompatible with the Harry Potter lore, we aren't going to take Fantastical Beasts as canon, since if we did it would literally be impossible to explain why British wizards are so backward.)

He would've kept rambling if I hadn't said something, so I interrupted the man.

"What, did you just toss a lightning-type spell at the thing?"

"Yes. What else could I have done?"

You've gotta be shitting me…

Ignorant of how dumb what he did was, Arthur continued, "To fix that I bought a Ford Anglia and have been trying to figure out how it works by taking it apart, unfortunately, my wife insisted on enchanting it to fly and turn invisible inst–"

I slapped the man immediately, just a little bit. He didn't even fall out of his chair.

Afterwards, I turned to Ginny. "Sorry for slapping your dad in front of you, he's just being very stupid."

Ginny seemed unbothered, maybe even amused, but trying to hide it.

"Isn't that a bit rude?" Arthur whined while rubbing his reddened cheek.

"You caught a poor lady's car on fire."

"I was only trying to help. Perhaps it wasn't even the spell that caused the fire. Muggle-made devices are temperamental things."

"Don't pull that, it was definitely your spell that did it. Gasoline and oil are highly flammable." I slapped my own cheeks to calm down and decided to move on. "Anyway, direct your questions to me, please."

Arthur seemed open to changing the subject back to the toaster oven and went on to ask me about every single little function of the appliance, some more than once.

It was on the most inane things as well, like what a little cooling enchantment did. He didn't get it since it made things hot. Apparently, he didn't comprehend the added convenience of the handle not burning you, and the food being cooled to an edible temperature.

Overall, I was left annoyed and irritated. I had no faith remaining in wizards to actually use 'muggle' technology by the time I was done. They just didn't seem to have the right frame of reference to understand it.

I suspected the isolation and lack of real public education was why.

Especially when this man was supposed to be the expert on 'muggles.' He was supposed to be the expert, yet he seemed more ignorant than a twelve-year-old child.

Ginny had snuck away at one point during my Q&A with her dad, and I can't blame her. It went on a lot longer than I'd expected.

Maybe I should just write a book on this stuff rather than waste my time explaining it face-to-face to countless idiots… My estimation of their knowledge was too high, and it seemed they just didn't know enough to replicate what I was doing without actually learning 'muggle' sciences.

How could I expect one of them to understand how induction works, or how light refracts?

It needed to be taught formally, and they seemed allergic to formal education.

…

During a nice, calm evening, after classes and dinner, I was chillaxing in the most comfortable spot in the Slytherin common room. I'd made a habit of sitting in this particular place, on this specific couch, every single morning and evening.

The arrogant, snot-nosed brat of a second-year Draco and his two goonies tried to take it from me every time too. So I got the amusement of watching him attempt separate things. He'd even gotten baffled in the attempt of trying to cast charms on me a handful of times, 'try' being the important word. The spells just simply slipped off of me since I consciously resisted them.

The brat managed to one-up me a total of once though, getting to my seat at around five thirty in the morning and smugly glaring at me as I walked in around six.

"Up late, Tempest?"

"Sure. Unlike you, I can't coast along on my parents' reputation." That would get him. His dad may have seemed like nothing special to me when I met him, but Draco's family is well-known and sort of nobility among wizards. This didn't matter at all to me, but he'd structured his entire personality around it.

The boy visibly stiffened in his exaggerated faux-relaxed position.

"I suppose trash like you would have to scramble for whatever scraps of success you could get your filthy hands on, eh, Tempest?"

"Well. I've never been found wanting in status, have I? Strength alone proves my worth, so my name or family doesn't matter. Yours shouldn't either, really. Your dad just seemed like a simple poser to me, so I don't know why you seem to idolize him and the rest of your family so much."

"You take that back! My father is a great wizard feared and revered by all!"

"Oh, and why is that? Did he do anything of note?"

"He survived receiving the Dark Mark!"

He paused for a long few seconds like he expected me to know what the hell that is, or react to it in some way, but it was all Greek to me. I knew Greek by this point, but you get the idea.

"And?"

"Tempest, you really are a fool!"

"If you want me to be impressed, you gotta explain what this 'Dark Mark' thingy is. Now I'm sorta curious."

"It means he survived a meeting with You Know Who…" He whispered that part, but seemed to be lying by omission in the way he explained it. I could see it on his face.

Ooooh, so he's Tommy's lackey!

"Ah, I get it now!" I roughly patted him on the shoulder, "Well, good for him, I guess. I don't think I could stomach serving another person, myself." Let alone someone as insufferable as Tommy-boy. Sounds like a fate worse than death to me, and that's coming from someone with personal experience.

Draco seemed astounded and incredibly confused, but I decided to leave our conversation at that. I wanted first dibs at breakfast, so I couldn't waste any more time bantering with the boy.

If it's true that Tommy-boy literally marks his subordinates with some dark symbol, then he's even more of an idiot than I thought. How are they supposed to stay secret that way? Any spy missions would be out of the question for them if all an enemy would have to do is see this mark to identify them.

And surely these lackeys wanna stay secret since Tommy's other part was presumed dead by most and was probably sneaking around somewhere in the shadows.

I bet Draco's dad wouldn't be too happy if he knew what his kid told me. I'd managed to squeeze something confidential out of the boy, I believe, which made getting insulted by him completely worth it.

Maybe talking with him more would be worth it in the future too, might be able to knock some sense into him. Metaphorically, maybe.

…

I decided to set my focus on working on the newer devices I needed for my own convenience, and in the meantime worked on a book that would detail all the ways I believed magic and technology could be cross-functional in this world.

This took some time, of course; months, in fact. I was working with D-rank capabilities, remember? That, and I was enrolled in wizard school. It all kept me pretty busy.

I went to classes, sometimes met with Hagrid, set up a few pranks with the Weasley twins, and even 'talked' Sebastian out of a few bullying situations. Seriously, the boy was a walking target for that stuff, but I was enough to scare 'em off for him every time.

Ginny dragged her heels on that whole 'talk with Harry' thing, and I wasn't gonna pressure her into it, so she just kept her distance and watched him from there.

She claimed she was "Waiting for the perfect time to ask," so I stopped bothering her about it.

I didn't care about childhood drama unless my own daughter was involved. She'd never talk to a human this weak though, which was still something that needed work. Ever since some asshole did something unspeakable, she hadn't been willing to consider speaking with most humans that she didn't already know and trust.

Anyway… things were uneventful over those few months, for the most part.

I did grow more and more annoyed with Lockheart, but it wasn't like he did anything big to cause it. Just lots of much of the same, building up over time into resentment. I was starting to look forward to that 'curse' on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position to kick in before the end of the school year.

Only time would tell, I suppose.