I don't own anything.
People keep telling me that it's important for me to write my memoirs, so that one day Witches and Wizards can read these and learn from me. So that they can stand on my shoulders and see further, as I stood on the shoulders of the giants that came before me.
Here's the thing though, I don't feel much like a giant, and somehow, I doubt that those who came before me did either. But that's neither here nor there, after all, if I don't get these done soon, I think my wife will have me sleeping in the doghouse for a long, long time.
So here goes nothing. My name is Leo Pollux Black and I'm a Wizard, one of the wise, who can bend reality with naught but a flick of the wrist and a word of power. But if you are reading these memoirs, you already knew that. What you might not know, is how all of this began.
Memoirs of Leo Pollux Black Volume I
September 1, 1971, 10:48 AM, Platform 9 ¾ - King's Cross Station
I let out a sigh of relief as I finally plopped myself down onto the red leather seat I claimed on the Hogwarts Express. Reaching down into my pocket, I grabbed for the wooden handle that I knew to find there. It was warm to the touch, and when my fingers wrapped around it, that warmth spread throughout me. Ebony and Phoenix feather, fourteen and a half inches, unyielding, but most important of all, it was mine.
"Colloportus." I twirled my wand in a neat circle as I carefully intoned the locking charm. I couldn't help the smile that curled my lips as the compartment door snapped shut with a satisfying clack. Sure, the charm could be undone by any student above first year, but none of the higher years would want to sit with him anyways, so that was a nonissue.
Mostly, I just wanted to enjoy the train ride without having to adhere to the strict decorum mother had drilled into me since I could walk. It had never come easy to me. It was exhausting, too. Constantly remaining polite, always maintaining posture, never breaking character. If mother could see the way I was slouched on the train's bench, I would be lucky to escape with only a minor cursing. Both Sirius and I had endured the punishment more than often enough to know exactly what would be coming to me if I ever got caught.
But I was off to school now, I could spend my time as I liked now. No more forced socializing with whomever mother deemed 'acceptable'. No more boring balls and events to attend, at least during the school year. Instead, I could spend my time doing magic. No mother to nag me if I spent too much time in my room, my nose buried in one book or another. No father to drag me away from practicing spells to my heart's content.
I hadn't even seen Hogwarts yet, and I already loved it.
Leaning over, I tapped the trunk that I had left on the floor, the black wooden case popped open, revealing an assortment of clothes, books and stationery that should never have been able to fit. Reaching in, I grabbed Elementary Elements a translated copy of the same by Harfang Munter. The original text had been in written in German, the most common language spoken at Durmstrang institute. Which made sense since the author had once been a professor and later even the headmaster of the famous school.
Most of the magic in the book was beyond me at the moment, but even the simpler spells it held were fascinating. There was something about bending the elements to your will that was beyond cool. After all, what self-respecting Wizard wouldn't want to shoot fireballs.
The Incendio charm is interesting for a multitude of reasons. The first being that the charm is unique among the elemental charms, leading to its ease of use. Unlike most other more potent and powerful elemental magic, the fire-making charm doesn't actually make fire at all.
Instead, it heats up the magic and 'burns' it up as fuel for the spell, creating the illusion of fire without actually making any. Functionally this changes little, since the heat and light mimic fire closely, and the heat is sufficient to ignite most materials on contact just as regular fire would. But it doesn't share the properties of either natural fire such as the oxidization of a conjured substance, nor does it behave like cursed fire which I will delve into further later in this text…
September 1, 1971, 18:25 PM, Black Lake - Hogwarts
Everyone had always told me that the castle was beautiful, but as I sat on the little enchanted boat drifting over the lake, I realized that they were wrong. It was breathtaking.
The castle was massive, spanning the whole width and length of the hill it was built on. The various towers and turrets jutting out of the main structure blocking out the night's sky, the windows shining gold replacing the twinkling of stars where the castle obscured them from sight. I could have sworn that the entire thing almost glowed. We arrived on the other end of the lake after a couple of minutes, and I savored those moments where I had a clear view of the whole castle.
I walked along the trail with the other first years, led by what was quite possibly the largest man I had ever seen. Maybe he had some Giant ancestry? Quietly I tried to scan the crowd for Sirius, my 'big' brother. The prat still hung the fact that he was born a precious 2 minutes before me over my head.
When I finally spotted him, we were already at the grand entrance doors to the school. He was chatting with another boy, he was tall, with round, wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and a black rat's nest on top of his head. He looked familiar, but I couldn't immediately place him. I didn't walk over though, Sirius looked like he was having fun and a conversation with two people that looked as animated as they did sounded exhausting. I'd just talk to him after the sorting, or tomorrow if we didn't end up in the same house.
When we finally got to the steps at the entrance, the door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in burgundy robes stood there. She looked stern, her thin mouth pressed into a line, even as she smiled at them. Note to self, don't forget to hand in homework for her class. The tall man, Hagrid, spoke up, breaking me from my thoughts.
"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," he said.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
The Witch led us through the entrance hall, across the flagged stone floors and past the marble staircase and a large pair of doors behind which I could hear countless muffled voices blending into one. And into a small empty chamber off the hall. It was so different from the dark interior of Grimmauld Place that I couldn't help but goggle at the design. It was huge too, the entrance hall alone might have fit the entire house's exterior. If not the inside, since that had been expanded to be almost as large as the manor house grandfather still lived in.
When we were all squeezed into the smaller chamber, Professor McGonagall spoke up again. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.
'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." She finished, looking quite pleased that even the troublemakers like Sirius and his friend over there were quiet as she explained.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes darted around the room, resting on my own rather loose tie for a moment. I couldn't help but fiddle with it under her judging gaze until it was straightened out. At least it was better than the dressing down I would have gotten from mother.
"I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." As she left the room. Of course, the second she was gone, the room broke out into a dozen voices. Chief among them was my brother and his new friend, bragging to some other boys that they would both be going to Gryffindor together. I wished him all the luck in the world. If he succeeded, neither mother nor father would be best pleased with him. A howler or a dressing down would be the least of his worries.
It wasn't long before the professor returned, though, and took us into the great hall. It was beautiful. Thousands of candles floated above each of the 4 long tables, lighting the room like a thousand tiny stars in the sky. Speaking of the sky, the ceiling, undoubtedly enchanted to hell and back, showed just that. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I would say that there was no ceiling at all. I could even see the occasional streak of light cross the sky from where I knew the Auriga constellation was over the horizon.
I was so distracted that I had completely missed whatever professor McGonagall had said, and she was already calling out names.
"Adrian Avery!" A short, pale boy strutted up to the stool next to the professor. He was one of the boys that mother found 'acceptable' enough for Sirius and I to hang out with, though neither of us liked the other pureblood. He was a prat and a bully, he liked to think he was funny, but all he did was make bad jokes at other people's expense. The less important kids laughed along to suck up, but Sirius and I couldn't care less. Not only were we less than interested in the politics of pureblood society, but the Black family was also so far above Adrian's that none of it mattered anyways.
The hat had scarcely touched the other boy's lank brown hair before it cried out. "SLYTHERIN!" The pale boy's face was split by a smile that reached from ear to ear as he walked over to the table clad in green and silver. He sat himself down next to another short boy that must have been a first year too. I must have missed his sorting.
"Leo Black." I started when I hear my name, my eyes snapping back up to the professor. I kept my eyes on the stool as I walked forward, acutely aware of all the whispers from the tables around us. While there were already Blacks at Hogwarts, it was always a spectacle to see another member of the most influential family in Britain join the school.
The last thing I saw as McGonagall dropped the hat onto my head, covering my eyes, was Sirius. A goofy grin on his face as he gave me a thumbs up. And then I heard it.
"Interesting, very interesting indeed." The voice whispered in my ear, though despite knowing that it couldn't be that loud, it still rang through my head as if it had shouted. "The hat?" I asked in a murmur. I didn't see who else it could have been, but you never really know with magic.
"Yes, yes. I'm the hat. Now where to put you hmm? Hard working, I see. And loyal to a fault as well. You would do well in Hufflepuff. Not much fear in you either, though is it really courage if you are not afraid in the first place? Ambition in spades, but no patience for the game. And a sharp mind, very sharp indeed. A drive to learn and the intelligence to comprehend. Very well, better be RAVENCLAW!"
As I got of the stool, I noticed that my tie had already changed into a blue and bronze one befitting of my house. I didn't see any other first years sitting at the table yet, so I must have been the first one this year. As I walked over, I did my best to ignore the polite clapping of the student body while I took a seat at the end of the table.
"Sirius Black." My brother was next on the list, before the hat dropped over his eyes, I gave him a reassuring smile. Whatever happened, he would be fine, I'd make sure of it. It had scarcely touched Sirius' head when it boomed out "GRYFFINDOR!". Oh boy, mother was not going to like this. Not at all.
September 11, 1971, 19:29 PM, Abandoned Classroom - Hogwarts
The water making charm, Aguamenti, despite being the opposite of the Incendio charm is rather standard in both execution, function and application for elemental spells. Unlike Incendio, or the more complicated elemental spells pertaining to water, the Aguamenti charm does not actually create anything out of your magic. It is neither a conjuration nor a substitute that is functionally the same. Instead, the charm simply draws water out of the caster's surroundings. This is usually the air, but it can also come from other sources such as lakes, rivers, or even plants.
The fact that the charm draws water that already exists and expels it from the tip of the wand makes it easy to use, but also means that the water drawn from the spell will not vanish like a conjuration and is thus safe to drink. The drawback to this, is that the spell will be unreliable in dry or acrid areas where there is very little water to be found. This can even pose a danger, since the spell will draw water from any source in the area, including the caster's body. In 1097 there were reports of mages who joined the crusades accidentally dehydrating their own bodies and ultimately perishing in the desert.
The first confirmed use of the spell was in 31 BC in ancient Egypt during the Roman occupation, though it is thought that the charm had been used in the area for far longer. It was first documented by …
Grabbing my wand, I took a deep breath as the familiar warmth flowed through me. I waved my wand through the air in the form of a wave or a sideways S "Aguamenti!" A small, thin stream of water dripped from my wand, almost like a leaky faucet, sputtering every so often. With a sigh, I cut off the flow and put my wand down.
It wasn't bad for a first attempt, but I needed to get this spell to work. Not only was it the next spell in Elementary Elements, but it was also a convenient way to put out fires caused by my practice with the Incendio charm. Apparently, Filch was still looking for whoever had lit a desk on fire in one of the abandoned classrooms. Seriously, who would do such a thing?
I had since moved to a different abandoned classroom, there was no shortage of those in the castle, but I wasn't keen on a repeat experience. Picking the wand back up, I relished in the warmth that suffused me once again. I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined what the spell should look like. A thick stream of water spewing from my wand, blasting at the classroom wall. "Aguamenti!"
Water gathered at the tip of my wand, and for a moment I thought I had failed again. No! Focus, that kind of thinking would probably make the spell fail in the first place. I grit my teeth as I thought of the stream again, willing it to take shape. I almost dropped my wand as the gathered water shot forward, making my arm recoil as it shot from the focus with speed. I'd done it!
Looking down, the grin slipped off my face almost as fast as it came. Elementary Elements by Harfang Munter was lying there on the desk, soaking wet from the water I had just condensed and shot through the room. "Bugger."
A/N: Hello everyone! I've been working on this story a bit since I had my accident. It got me thinking about how convenient it would be to have some Skelly-Grow for myself. Alas, I'll have to heal the old-fashioned way instead.
It will give me a chance to use some of the scenes and ideas I've had for the HP world for a couple of years now. The start of the story will be mostly focused on the main characters and the magic Leo is learning. This will be a lot slower paced than Morningstar is, allowing me to really flesh out the world before I get into the main plot of the story. (Not that there won't be plot even in the beginning of the story.)
Anyways, if you guys have any feedback for me, feel free to leave a review and if you liked it, consider giving it a follow and/or a favorite to stay tuned for any new chapters.
