HP: A Magical Journey #Chapter 1 - Start - Read HP: A Magical Journey Chapter 1 - Start Online - All Page - NOVEL NEXT
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Have you ever have one of those times when you don't want to get up from your bed? You know, one of those times when your position on the bed is really comfortable and optimal for going to sleep. But then something comes up that requires you to get out of bed and you know that if you get up now and return to bed you won't get back to that level of comfort.
Well if you are familiar with that situation, then you know how I am feeling now. I am in total bliss laying in the comfy bed and covered by an unbelievably soft duvet. Right now, I just want to curl up and go back to sleep, but I can't because an offending ray of sunlight is falling right on my face making me uncomfortable and hindering my ability to go back to sleep.??
After trying to ignore the offending ray of light, I gave up and decided to fix the problem by covering the window and stop the light from leaking inside. With a sigh, I forced my eyes to open and sat up on my bed. Automatically my eyes move towards the light, and I instinctively squinted my eyes to protect them from the harsh glare.
I move myself to the corner of the bed and swing my legs off the bed, but the feeling that I was waiting to experience didn't come. I looked down, and instead of expecting to see my feet land on the ground, I saw a pair of small legs dangling off the side of the bed. Okay, that wasn't right, my legs shouldn't be like this, thinking that I should still be half asleep, I move my hands to touch my knees, but the moment the hands entered my sight, I froze.
What I saw was a pair of surprisingly young hands. My first thought was that these shouldn't be my hands, but then a stray thought hit me and made me think, 'Huh? What did my hands look like?'. The second that line of thought got to an end, an onslaught of panic struck me, and I started to look around and saw myself in an unfamiliar room, but at the same time, I couldn't recall how my bedroom looked like or could remember the room where I had gone to sleep. Scratch that I couldn't remember anything about myself before waking up. The more I thought, the more terror filled my body, I couldn't remember my name or recall anything about his own identity.
With that revelation, fear emerged from within the already peaking panic, and I found myself pushing myself back till my back found the backboard of the bed, and my eyes began to roam around the room. I saw the walls covered with wallpaper-type patterned wallcoverings. A tiny part of my panic-free mind found that weird as I associated walls with painted walls.
I took in the old ambiance that the room presented with its wallpapered walls, old-styled cupboards, and victorian era furniture that decorated the room. The next moment I remembered something and looked down as my heart thumped so loud that I thought it would burst out of my ribcage. I saw the unfamiliar body that could only be described as a child's, and the dam of emotions broke. I started to hyperventilate, and sweat emerged all over my body.
I grabbed my head, trying to remember anything at all; anything about my identity, how I got here. Anything that could help me with my current situation, but nothing worked as I couldn't pull anything out of my brain, and then it happened. A terrible headache emerged at the back of my head, spreading throughout my head, it grounded my temples, and an electric pain burned behind my eyes. Not being able to endure the pain, a guttural scream escaped from my mouth.
Within a couple of minutes, I had gone from feeling comfy in my bed to once in a lifetime level panic attack. After screaming for not knowing how much time, I saw the door to the room open, and a man barged into the room and it looked like he was saying something with a worried look on his face, but I couldn't hear anything because my ears were ringing and finally, I guess my body couldn't take it anymore and I blacked out.
(Scene Break)
When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was still in the same room, tucked into the duvet. Without making a sound, he sat up on the bed and looked around the room, but this time he didn't feel any panic, fear, or confusion as something had changed. That something had helped him make sense of this whole situation. He looked at his hands, which were still of a child's, and felt his legs underneath the duvet, which were similarly child-sized.
As absurd as it sounded, he had somehow transmigrated into a child's body and had lost his sense of identity while doing so. He couldn't recall anything that would point to who he was before transmigrating into this body, and the reason he wasn't going into another panic attack was that even though he had lost his memories regarding his identity, he had gained knowledge that would replace that loss. The new knowledge that he had come into was the identity of his current body.
He leaned back on the backboard of the bed, and looked at the ceiling, and sighed, "Quinn West, so this is my new name, huh."
Quinn West, boy, born in 1979, and currently four years old. Son of Adam and Aria West, born and raised in England, second and the youngest child of the pair with an older sister, named Lia West, who was ten years older than Quinn.
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Unfortunately, both Adam and Aria West were no longer in the world, died in an accident when Quinn was one year old. From then on, both Quinn and his sister Lia were raised by their grandfather, George West.
But, the one thing that stood out in Quinn's memories and that left him stunned. It was the presence of magic. Yes, you heard it right. Magic, with a capital 'M', and finally, Quinn's memories had revealed something of utmost importance.
"I am in the world of Harry Potter."
In Quinn's memories, he had seen wands and witnessed the frequent use of the cleaning spell Scourgify to clean after the mess that infant Quinn had made. He saw the mess cleaned in an instant after a single use of that spell. He had seen cutlery floating around at dinner tables and multiple other feats of magic, but more importantly, Quinn's older sister was attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. A name that only the real deal would use.
Quinn continued to sit on the bed and took all of it in. Despite the absence of panic of being in an unfamiliar environment, he was still uncomfortable with being in this body. The realization that he had taken over a child's body had left him with an uncomfortable feeling in his heart. Quinn put his arm over his eyes and thought about the original Quinn's last memory.
'He had found his way to an open window ledge and tripped out.'. At that moment, the original had experienced his first feat of accidental magic and bounced off the ground like a balloon, but the next moment the original fainted.
"And, then I took over.", Quinn concluded with the guilt of possessing someone taking over him, torturing him from the inside. He looked outside and saw that it was already late in the day, and the sun had already set, and the night was about to take over the sky.
"How long I have been out? I guess I should let them know that I am up.". Quinn removed the duvet and was about to get out of bed when the door to his room opened, and the man who Quinn had seen just before blacking out entered the room.
"Young master Quinn! You must not get out of bed. You are in poor health. Please, lay down. I will inform the master that you have woken up.". One thing Quinn might have missed mentioning was that the West family was rich, and by rich, he meant old-money rich and successive generations of successful business prosperity, which had not only maintained the family wealth but had seen a steady increase in the family business.
The person in question was the West family's butler, Elliot Dalton. Elliot here held a special place in the subordinates employed by the West family as Elliot was the personal butler of Quinn's grandfather and was his close confidant. Elliot wore standard butler gear, and even though he didn't look like it, Elliot was already over 70 years old.
Wizard kind or magicals lived a lot longer than their muggle or non-magical counterparts. The average life span of a magical was two to three times that of normal people, and thus they aged slower, so it came to no surprise that Elliot looked like a middle-aged man rather than an old aged-man
Breaking out of his thoughts, Quinn tried to talk to Elliot, who was putting the duvet back on him, "Uncle Elliot, I am fine. Can I get some water?"
Elliot stopped trying to get Quinn to lay down and observed him for a second before nodding, "Yes, of course. How forgetful of me. You must be parched" He looked just past Quinn's bed and called out.
"Polly.", two seconds might have passed before a creature appeared, literally popped into the room, and spoke in a squeaky voice, "Yes?".
Polly, as Elliot had called her, was a West family elf and had all usual house-elf features and wore a toga instead of a pillowcase that was adorned by the poster elf of the Harry Potter series, Dobby.
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'So, this is a house-elf.', Quinn despite having seen house-elves in the original's memories, was still surprised to see the elf with his own eyes, 'The movie CGI doesn't do the real thing justice.'
"Polly, please get a glass of water for the young master. And, please inform the master that the young master has woken up.", as soon as Elliot spoke the tasks, Polly snapped her fingers, and a tray with a pitcher and a glass appeared in the room. Quinn watched with wonder as the pitcher of water floated and poured the water into the glass. The set floated gently and landed on his side.
Quinn nodded towards Polly, who popped out of the room, possibly to inform his grandfather about his status. Quinn picked the glass to quench his thirst and then turned to Elliot to ask,
"Uncle Elliot, what happened to me?"
Elliot looked at the four-year child explained the whole incident that had taken place today, "Young master, earlier today you fell out of the window. You somehow managed to get the window open and then slipped out. We had no idea when you had fallen, but when I was passing by, I saw you unconscious on the ground and immediately called for the healer.", Elliot's expression showed concern and grief regarding the matter, but the next moment, his expression turned bright and joyful as he continued, "Young master, I must congratulate you. You finally performed your first feat of accidental magic. You fell unconscious because you exhausted your magic. Unfortunately, it came in these circumstances, but all's well that ends well."
Quinn was about to respond, but before he could speak out, another man entered the room, and Quinn immediately recognized the man as it was Quinn's grandfather, George West.
Just like Elliot, George West was also old and was pushing 80 and was a couple of years older than Elliot, but both of them looked like middle-aged men. George West stood with his back straight and moved with conviction, he had a few grays in hairs, but his eyes were bright and full of vigor and life.
From what Quinn could gather from his new memories, George West was a strict man and was a man of few words, but at the same time, he had heard from Elliot and some other people that George West had a way with words when needed that had been cultivated from years of doing business. He used to travel all around the world's magical communities to do business and used to run a tight ship on the family business, but then his wife, Maria West, passed away from a magical disease which caused him to drown himself in his work to avoid grief. The business prospered but that came at the cost of his relationship with his son because he had ignored the parental side of his duties.
After years of a rocky relationship, Quinn's mother had taken steps to make sure that her husband and father-in-law got along better and repair their relationship, and it had been successful to a degree, but when things were looking on the upside, tragedy struck and claimed the lives of both of Quinn's parents. This caused George to focus most of his focus on raising his grandchildren, Lia and Quinn, to make sure that the past didn't repeat, so he mostly stayed in Britain and now conducted his business from his home country.
He walked to Quinn's bedside and took out his wand and waved it to perform some charms that Quinn could guess were diagnostic charms to check his current health status, and then performed another spell that conjured a chair beside him and sat on it.
"How are you feeling, Quinn?"
Quinn was unsure how to interact and converse with his grandfather as he wasn't his original grandson and the current Quinn was a completely different person, so when Polly was sent to inform George, he began to think about how to approach the coming conversation and the answer he came up with was,
"I am sorry, grandfather.", acting like a child who had done something bad was the way Quinn had chosen, combined it with his first accidental magic, which was a big event of a young magical's life, and the fact that he had fallen unconscious twice in a single day would result in Quinn needing to speak less as it would seem that he was regretting his actions that caused everybody to worry and he hoped that George or anybody else won't question him taking his health into account.
Quinn's approach was indeed correct as George replied with, "You don't have to worry, little Quinn. It was not your fault. I hope you won't think much about what happened today.", a hint of a smile made its way on his face as he continued, "You performed magic today, little Quinn. I am very proud of you."
He ruffled Quinn's hair and spoke, "Let's write a letter together to your sister to tell her that you did magic. She will be so happy when she hears about it."
Quinn nodded while smiling, it might be because he had no recollection of his original identity and him having the original's memories that Quinn felt positive emotions when George ruffled his hair and when he thought about his older sister, Lia who was currently studying at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic.
After that, a medi-healer came to check on Quinn, and the conclusion regarding Quinn's scream incident was that even though his magic had saved him from the impact, but his mind still thought he was falling and it was just a psychological reaction from the fall.
That night, Quinn fell asleep quite quickly because of all the life-changing events that had taken place today that had left him dead tired mentally. Before going to sleep he thought about what his life would be like from now on. He was in the world of Harry Potter, a world where magic was real and he had the magic in him. He wanted to see what this new world would offer him.
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It was the start of June and the start of the summer season in Britain. Quinn sat in the backyard of the West Manor, enjoying the first sunny morning of the season. He thought about his life since coming to this world. And, having been in this world for a few months, he could say that except for the presence of magic and seeing it used every day, his life was the same as a four-year-old child.
He was learning how to read and write, draw, and did all the activities a four-year-old child did. But, there were some other things that he thought were not usual for a child his age. He was being taught two languages at the same time. While everybody else in the West Manor talked to Quinn in English, Quinn's grandfather, George, talked to him in French.??
Quinn's late grandmother, George's wife, Maria, was born and raised in France. Maria's mother tongue was French, so George had learned French for her. Now, he was teaching his grandchildren to speak the language that his wife spoke. Quinn's sister, Lia, studied in Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic, so reading and writing french was a prerequisite for studying at that school.
Other than learning two languages, he was also learning how to play the piano and weekly lessons of formal ballroom dancing.
He practiced the correct posture of sitting, standing, and walking. He had to eat every meal with correct table manners. Quinn learned formal speech, how to speak according to different situations, and family history. He also learned basic maths.
Quinn had to be honest; learning all these new things was fun and challenging. West Manor didn't have a TV, so Quinn had to do something to keep himself occupied, and learning all the things kept him occupied, so he didn't get bored, but there was one takeaway, Quinn had to pretend to learn at a slower pace to maintain his cover as a small child. But, it turned out that pretending all day long was extremely taxing and frustrating. Pretending to forget concepts, making mistakes, learning things that he understood at once was frustrating beyond words.
Quinn had motor skills and mental capacity far surpassing that of a child, so he learned to dance quickly, but he had to pretend by stepping on his instructor's toes. He had to make mistakes on the piano despite having learned the material correctly. He had to pretend to count on his fingers when doing maths and mispronounce names of people and places taught in family history.
And it turned out that all of this wasn't enough, as even with Quinn pretending to make mistakes, he was still learning at an exceptional pace. Subjects like formal dancing, piano lessons, French, and Family History were new to Quinn, so he didn't know the normal pace of learning for a four-year-old, but he was clear about Maths. So, when he was suddenly taught a concept at a much higher level for a four-year-old, he realized that he had paced himself incorrectly.
But, it was too late, and Quinn couldn't slow down his learning at this point, and Quinn didn't think that he could slow down, as anything slower than this would drive him crazy. So, Quinn decided to learn whatever the adults taught him and hope they won't go overboard, or he would seriously have to pretend to be dumber, and that was antagonizing.
All of this was the plus side of things in Quinn's life. Now, let's come to the downside of his life. Quinn couldn't do any magic; no matter how much he tried to get access to his magic, he couldn't move a single thing or perform any magic.
Now, if Quinn was a mainstream Harry Potter fan, who only watched the movies and read the books, then he wouldn't have felt down about not being able to perform magic, but you see, Quinn wasn't your mainstream fan. But no, Quinn was an extensive fanfiction reader. Quinn, in his previous life, had read more fanfiction than the original work. He had read fanfiction characters doing wandless magic, and he wanted to accomplish that, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't do a single piece of magic.
But, it was not Quinn's fault that he couldn't do magic. He didn't know anything about magic theory and didn't have any access to any text regarding magic. And, he didn't have access to wands as people were protective of their wands and didn't like to hand them over to anyone. Plus, Quinn was educated not to ask anyone of their wands, so asking someone for their wand was out of the question.
All Quinn could do was keep trying to bring out the magic within himself, but nothing worked. Every day he failed to do magic. But, Quinn wasn't going to give up his pursuit of wandless magic. He knew that it was possible, and he knew it was possible to do it at a young age, as a young Tom Marvalo Riddle was able to do magic without a wand before ever knowing that he had magic.
Quinn positively believed that he would be able to achieve wandless magic soon, but what Quinn didn't know was that it would be a while before he could start on his magical journey.
Another thing that irked Quinn was that he was under constant supervision, at anytime an adult was around him, watching him so that the accident wouldn't repeat itself. But, that was a huge hindrance for Quinn as it turned out that a child glaring at a ball for tens of minutes was weird, so Quinn couldn't practice magic without them asking questions, which Quinn would rather not answer.
Quinn realized that if he wanted to make quick progress with his magic, he would need to understand how magic worked, and he knew exactly how to get the resources to get his magical knowledge kickstarted. He just needed to wait for a couple of weeks to start his plan.
(Scene Break)
Quinn sat on the living room sofa, swinging his feet while drinking a glass of apple juice. He was excited as today was the start of his plan of getting a start on learning magic. A faint smile graced his face as he bought up the glass to take another sip of the juice.
Elliot, who was sitting on a chair near Quinn, saw him smiling, and a smile of his own made its way on his own face as he could guess why Quinn was smiling, but he decided to ask,
"Young master, why are you smiling?"
Quinn looked at Elliot, and his smile turned to a grin, "I get to see Lia after so long. I am excited to see her."
This wasn't the first time he would meet her, she had returned home for the Easter holiday, and he had gotten to spend time with his elder sister, and he had gotten to know her, and it was true that Quinn was excited to meet Lia. Quinn's planned heavily depended on Lia's personality, and he was sure that if things went according to plan, by the end of this week, he would have his hand on the things he needed to get started on learning magic.
Elliot, who heard Quinn, wouldn't believe it if someone told him the things that were going inside the mind of his young master.
It took another half hour before Polly, the house-elf, informed them that the master and young miss had arrived home via the floo. Quinn got down from the couch and patiently waited for Lia and George to enter the living room with bright eyes. It was when a brunette young girl with stone grey eyes ran into the living room and gave a bright smile the moment she saw Quinn and hugged him the moment she reached Quinn.
Quinn laughed as she spun him around, and she responded with giggles of her own.
Unlike Quinn, Lia was eleven years old when she lost their parents and was at school when she got the news that news. This caused a huge impact on her, as after that, she became quite overprotective of Quinn. The elder sister request letters on Quinn every single week and was quite doting on her younger brother. When Lia heard about the incident, while happy for Quinn for doing accidental magic for the first time, she was also quite angry because of the circumstances that the magic had shown itself in a dangerous incident.
From what Quinn had heard, Lia had written a strong-worded letter to George regarding what she thought of this incident and criticized him for the lack of care for Quinn, and when she had returned home for Easter break, she had kept a strict eye on the new arrangements. Lia was scared of losing her baby brother after losing her parents that caused her to spoil Quinn whenever she got the chance.
(Scene Break)
Quinn knew about Lia's doting behavior, so he decided to take advantage of that, and after giving her a couple of days to decompress at home, he decided to make his move. And, an excellent opportunity presented itself to Quinn.
One day, Quinn and Lia were playing in her room, but after some time, Lia felt a little sleepy, and before she knew it, she had nodded off, and that gave Quinn the perfect opportunity to execute his plan, so he went to the bookshelf in Lia's room. He browsed the bookshelf and tried to find the first-year textbook on Magic Theory, but the moment he looked at the books he froze, and a moment later slapped himself on the back of his head.
Quinn planned to pick the textbook on Magic Theory and then pretend to treat it like a toy, and when Lia tried to take it from him, he would throw a tantrum so that Lia would let him keep the book as she had already passed her fourth year, and wouldn't need a first-year textbook. He knew that Lia would go soft on him and let him keep it, and then he would carry that book everywhere so that everyone would know that the book was from Lia and no one would try to take it from him.
But, he had forgotten a simple detail that had just screwed up his whole plan, which was that all of Lia's books were in French.
"You moron!". Quinn whispered to himself as he slapped himself on the forehead. "How could I forgot that Beauxbaton Academy Of Magic is in friggin' France! Of course, the books would be in French!"
Quinn started to pace in the room as he felt miserable about himself and his failed plan. He was so sure about himself and that his plan would work without a hitch, but his first plan had failed spectacularly. After failing to do magic for months, this plan's failure had put Quinn's morale down.
He hadn't been in Lia's room a lot, and this was the first time after thinking of this plan, so he hadn't thought about the books being in French. The location of Beauxbaton Academy Of Magic had completely slipped his mind, and Quinn knew that this was an idiotic mistake, but one that had derailed his whole plan. Even though Quinn was learning French from his grandfather, he wasn't nearly as good as to read a book of that level and completely understand it.
He sighed as he sat down on Lia's bed, and in the silent room, he found himself retrospecting, something he hadn't done in a couple of months, or to be accurate, he had avoided retrospecting about his life and how he got here.
There had been a few times when the atmosphere in the West Manor had been exceptionally joyous, and the merry vibe had sometimes made Quinn think of himself as an outsider. He would think that he had stolen life from the original Quinn. Seeing people around him laughing and having fun would lead him to think that if he really belonged here.
Something that haunted Quinn was that from the memories of the original. He knew that the fall from the window wasn't the reason for the original's death. Quinn had seen that magic had broken the impact, and it was after that the original had blacked out. It made Quinn think about if he was the one who had taken over the body while the original was weak after using magic and somehow eradicated the original's soul. Quinn had tried to assure himself that he wasn't in this body willingly and that he shouldn't be held accountable, but nevertheless, Quinn couldn't help but feel the guilt and shame on his part as even if unwillingly, he had taken a child's life from him.
Quinn sighed as he laid on Lia's bed, and while his retrospection went into negative loathing, he too fell asleep and thus came to an end of Quinn's plan to get started on magic as soon as possible.
(Scene Break)
It had taken Quinn a while to get back up on his feet and start working on magic again.
He knew that he couldn't get access to his grandfather's office where the manor's library resided. And, even if he could, he wasn't sure if he could gain what he needed as there might not be a basic-level magic theory book in that library.
He also knew that it would take a good while for his French to get to an appropriate level. So, Quinn decided to scrap the plan of gaining insight via theory and was back to his previous hit-and-trial method, and the result came exactly one year after coming to this world. And, even though Quinn didn't know it at that time, he had witnessed one of the most basic yet one of greatest mystery and core concepts of magic.
It was exactly one year after Quinn had transmigrated into the world of Harry Potter. He had worked on gaining magic every day for a whole year, but he had nothing to show as a result of his hard work. Plus, being raised in a magical household made it all more antagonizing for Quinn. He was surrounded by magic every day.
And, it turned out that the fanfiction trope about the trace on children from magical families not working because of being surrounded by magic performing adults was true, as his sister Lia was allowed to do magic in the house.
The only reason a lot of children from magical backgrounds didn't do magic at home was that parents didn't allow it home as tweens and teens with magic could cause a lot of mess at home that they would not rather clean up after, and rather than a rule of not performing magic at home, it was more of a matter of discipline at home. Lia was allowed to use magic as long as it was in a specific large empty room in the manor because that way any possible damage would be minimized and contained.
Now, we could see Quinn lying in his room, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling drowning in frustration as he had just find out that today was the day exactly one year after his transfer. He had started his day all merry, his studies were going great, except for magic he was making great progress on all fronts. And, even though some of that stuff was easy for someone of his mental capacity, it still somewhat helped his bruised ego, but then lo and behold, he took another punch to the gut when he saw the date on the clock in the dining room, and his mood went into the dump.
Quinn flipped himself on the bed and mushed his face into the pillow, groaning into it to show his frustration with himself. He then spent another ten-minutes groaning in his room, and after doing that, he sat upon his bed and stared at the ball in front of him.
Quinn had a lot of mixed feelings towards this specific ball. It was your average rubber ball toy, and Quinn had used this ball, trying to move it with magic, but for a whole year, he had just glared/stared at the ball, and the ball just sat there unmoving.
Adults around Quinn thought that this ball was Quinn's favorite toy as he spent a lot of time with it and carried it around with him all the time, but not for the reason they thought. They thought that Quinn liked the ball very much, while Quinn himself only kept the ball so that he could sneak in some practice when no one was looking.
As Quinn stared at the ball, something inside of him snapped, and anger welled inside of him, and he ended up yelling at the ball,
"Urgh! Why won't you move!"
And, it was then Quinn felt something move inside him. He felt a soft vibration in his body followed by a feeling of flow, and then Quinn's eyes widened as he saw the ball shot across the room and slammed itself on the wall in front of Quinn with great force, and then bounce off the wall and came back to hit Quinn on the face. He didn't dodge the ball because of the shock and took the hit.
"Oww!.. Hahaha!". Quinn laughed while tearing up because while his nose hurt, he was elated that he was able to do magic even though he knew it was accidental magic fueled by anger. Quinn knew that it was a start on his magical journey.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- (Ah, the good old star-hypen line.)
Quinn West - Main Character - 5 years old.
Lia West - Elder Sister - 15 years old (5th-year student)- Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic.
George West - Grandfather - Pushing 80 years old, Businessman.
Elliot Dalton - West Family Butler - Over 70 years old.
Adam West - Father of Quinn and Lia West. (Deceased)
Aria West - Mother of Quinn and Lia West. (Deceased)
Maria West - Grandmother of Quinn and Lia West, George West's wife. (Deceased)
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Quinn West hummed a jolly tune as he filled color in a picture book. Quinn enjoyed coloring the picture book. He did feel that the pictures were a little too simple for him, but he didn't mind as he remembered something as adult coloring books back in his old world, so of all the children activities Quinn did to play his part of a five-year-old, coloring was a one that he enjoyed doing.
Plus, he wasn't only filling color in the picture book but also practicing magic. Ever since the day he performed the anger-induced accidental magic, he had made some progress with magic and tried to improve it with a renewed vigor. Currently, he was sitting in front of a low table on the porch of his house in a lotus position (Indian style). If you sat beside Quinn, then you would be able to see a small glass bead(marble) moving wobbly in the space between his legs.??
Quinn had made some progress with his magic and was able to move light-weight objects with moderate success. Like the small glass bead, he could move it continuously without a problem, but he wasn't able to move it smoothly or more make sudden sharp turns. You could say that while he was able to keep the bead in motion, his control of the bead was lacking.
The only thing he could do with magic was move objects. He couldn't do any traditional magic like transfiguration, charms, jinxes, or anything seen in the original work. Moving objects under a certain weight was exciting enough for Quinn. He would stay up late in the night, moving different objects in differents, trying to gain more control of his magic. Plus, another thing that Quinn considered to be an upside to playing with magic was the sleep at night.
It turned out that the magic core theory was true, magicals had magical cores, and the capacity depended on the amount of magic you used, so the saying, 'Magic is a muscle' was true. The more you used magic, the more magical capacity you would possess.
He had gotten this information from Lia, who was practicing magic at home, and Quinn was allowed to watch, so he 'innocently' asked if she could keep making those butterflies that she was making as transfiguration practice, and she explained about a magic core,
"Let's see, imagine there is a bowl of water inside your body, and the water is the amount of magic you can do. If you use all the water, then you won't be able to do magic."
Quinn decided to ask another 'innocent' statement, fishing for a reply, "I want to do a lot of magic and become a great wizard when I grow up!"
Lia giggled at her little brother and pinched his cheeks, "If you want to become a great wizard, then you will have to use magic every day because that way, you will be able to use more magic."
She had explained in words that a child could understand, and even though she had over-simplified the topic and left out a lot of important things, Quinn had understood the gist of it.
Now, what did all of this had to with sleep at night. It turned out that using magic caused some kind of fatigue, and because Quinn wanted to increase his magic core capacity, he was making sure that by bedtime, he had emptied his magic core, and that turned into some of the best nights of sleep of his life.
Quinn had also started putting in more work in things other than magic. He started to take the piano more seriously and increased his practice time.
Quinn knew that his math skills were higher for a five-year-old, but were his mental math skills top-notch? No, so while he still pretended to be just a bright five-year-old, but on the inside, he was training his brain to calculate faster.
Quinn realized that if he wanted to get better at French, he would have to immerse himself in the language, so he actively began seeking his grandfather to talk to him in French. Mostly their conversations were just Quinn speaking and George listening. George would correct Quinn if he made mistakes. On the written part of French, he used his weekly correspondence with Lia as practice, and when writing to her, he would write the same content in both English and French.
George also had Quinn start on calligraphy and made him practice his handwriting. It was a blessing that they didn't use uneven parchment paper and quill and used a fountain pen with normal paper. Quinn's motivation for working on calligraphy was because he thought George's handwriting was cool and wanted his to be the same.
But, not all subjects were fun to learn. There were other subjects that Quinn didn't find appealing.
He didn't like family history, so he just rote-memorized everything taught to him. There was no extra effort in family history from Quinn's side. Similarly, he felt stifled during the meals as he had to use the correct table manners at every single meal, and Quinn felt that he wasn't able to completely enjoy his meals.
Formal dancing was neither fun nor boring, but it was embarrassing to make mistakes while dancing with someone, so Quinn just made sure to learn everything carefully and not make mistakes. Quinn found that embarrassment could be a strong motivator for learning. Quinn put as much work in dancing as piano under this alternative motivator.
Quinn also witnessed that how grooming and nurture could change a person over time. He noticed that his way of speaking had changed, and he was using words that he never used before, plus the way he walked and sat also changed. He found that his back which had always found the backrest of a chair or sofa, now remained straight, away from the backrest.
Quinn understood that he was changing for the better, but it was still eerie to realize that he changed without him noticing the change.
(Scene Break - George West P.O.V.)
George West was a learned man. He knew the importance of education and knowledge and held them in high regard. He had expanded his family business by using the knowledge he gained from learning and experiencing.
He had been alive for a long time and knew about the importance of learning from mistakes and accepting failures, but he had learned it the hard way. He had let the death of his wife overwhelm him and made him forget about his son. He had made a mistake that had cost him his relationship with his son. He was fortunate that his son was willing to give him another chance and fix their relationship, but then tragedy struck again and claimed the life of his son and daughter-in-law, taking them away from their children.
When he got the news, it broke him. He and his son had just started to fix the crack in their relationship. Why did this tragedy have to occur to this family? He got this close to do the same as he had done many years ago and throw himself into work to avoid grief, but then he remembered about his grandchildren and made him realize that he couldn't let himself drown in misery and picked himself up for the sake of grandchildren. He wasn't going to make the same mistake as he once did.
He took his grandchildren under his care, and he knew that he was doing the right thing when he saw his granddaughter. When he saw Lia, he saw a young child who was about to lose her childhood by maturing too early. George took both of his children under his care and provided the parental support that they had lost. He made sure that Lia wouldn't have to worry about her baby brother alone and made sure that both of them would have a normal childhood.
He was able to connect with Lia fairly quickly, and even though she ended up developing a slightly mature outlook on life for someone her age, he knew that she would be just fine within a few years.
As she grew, George saw Lia showing interest in the family business, so he began mentoring her in the breaks. He was building a foundation for her, just in the case if her interest turned into something serious. He had to say, Lia had impressed him year after year. She always had top grades, the willingness to learn and apply herself. And, more importantly, she had the qualities of a leader. He would be willing to groom Lia as his successor if she committed herself to the family business.
On the other hand, there was his other grandson, Quinn. He was only a year old, and he didn't understand the meaning of death, and it hadn't affected him as much as his sister.
George was not sure how to describe this child. From what he could see, this child was the same as any other child his age, but since he had started his education, Quinn had proved himself anything but an ordinary child. He picked up things very quickly and would always complete his work without complaining.
Quinn's teacher praised him when he asked for Quinn's progress and complimented him for being the easiest student they had ever taught. Not only that, but they also lauded Quinn's learning ability. George wasn't surprised to hear the teacher's opinion as George taught Quinn both French and Family history, and he knew Quinn's capability. He knew that Quinn wanted to learn French and actively tried to get better at it. He also knew that Quinn didn't like learning Family history, and he could see the difference in the effort he showed while he learned French and Family history.
George knew that if Quinn had been a normal child, he would've made a fuss about learning something he didn't enjoy or even outright refuse to learn. But Quinn, despite not enjoying learning Family History, still learned it without any prompting.
But, the thing that stood out most to George was Quinn's interest in magic. Magic would always succeed in attracting Quinn's attention. No matter if it was something as common as levitating cutlery to the dining table, or something flashy as sky-firework charms, everything made Quinn's eyes sparkle.
George noticed that every time he talked to Quinn, magic would always sneak into the conversation, and Quinn would especially active while talking about magic. He noticed that while children Quinn's age wouldn't stay in one spot for long, Quinn would always sit and patiently watch whenever Lia would use magic at home, or when West's manor's elf, Polly would clean the house using elf brand of magic, he would follow her all around the manor as she cleaned. Polly, who was a prideful elf, walked around the manor instead of apparating so that Quinn was able to follow her while she moved around the manor.
George had a hunch that Quinn would grow up to becoming a person who dwelled in the mysteries of magic or at least does something closely related to magic. And, even though it was absurdly early for talking about a child's future, George couldn't help but think that Quinn's future would be deeply related to magic.
George didn't want to decide his grandchildren's future careers. He wanted them to follow what they loved, which was evident as even though he was mentoring Lia, he wouldn't force Lia to take over the business. She would be allowed to leave at any time, and only when she gives full commitment would he seriously groom her for leading the family business.
Back to Quinn, George wanted to see his grandson's limits and how much Quinn could learn before leaving his direct supervision by enrolling in one of the magical schools. He began to replan his original plans for Quinn's education and development.
(Scene Break)
Another year had passed, and Quinn had used the past year very productively. He had increased the things he could do with magic. From making light-weighted objects move with limited control, Quinn had upped his capabilities. Over the year, Quinn had gradually found objects that weighed more and experimented and practiced with them. By the time he turned six, Quinn's control over objects had increased substantially.
The six-year-old still couldn't do anything more than move objects, but Quinn felt like he had pioneered the usage of magic in the area of push and pull. When Quinn mentioned that he could move objects, what he meant was that he could use different combinations of push and pull to make the object move.
In the case of Push, he could just apply a single push or apply a continuous push. The single push was akin to hitting a billiard(pool) ball with a cue stick or hitting a golf ball with a club. Whereas the continuous push was akin to pushing a trolley(cart) and apply force continuously to keep the object moving,
Pull was similar also push and had two types; the single yank or the continuous pull. The single yank was simply applying the pull just once, and the continuous pull could be a continuous pull force applied like a train engine pulling the carriages.
By using multiple combinations of these four types of forces at different powers, Quinn could do all kinds of things. It didn't provide total control like controlling a remote-controlled car, but with creativity and practice, possibilities were vast. He had attained a trickshot level of control and could control objects as long it was possible with push and pull.
Of course there were limitations,
The range was a huge limitation. His current range was only five meters as he didn't know how to get his magic across that limit. He could reach any object as long it was within a five-meter radius with him as the center.
Another limitation was speed. The control deteriorated with an increase in speed. The faster the object, the less control Quinn had on it.
Focus also hindered Quinn's ability to do magic. Quinn found out that to be able to do magic which wasn't high-emotion-fueled wild accidental magic, he had to focus and maintain the intent of the action. So, while the single push and pull were simple enough as their focus time was short, but continuous counterparts were harder as Quinn needed to constantly think of the power, direction, where to apply force, and how to apply force. So, complexity was bad for Quinn.
Then there was one problem that had caused Quinn a lot of problems, and it had taken a lot of willpower from Quinn to overcome. The problem was the bad habit of using hand gestures while using magic. While this habit had provided him with better control as gestures helped with focus, it made him think it was similar to wand moments, and that was against what Quinn was trying to accomplish. So, he tried to get rid of hand gestures, but it had taken everything from crossing his arms to sitting on his hands to put his hands behind the back to break that bad habit.
It took Quinn more than a month to get rid of that instinct to use hand gestures and another two months to get his control to the level provided with hand gestures. Now, Quinn could do the same things by just thinking about the execution of the magic.
Quinn's non-magical education was also coming along splendidly. He had gotten quite good at the piano, and formal dancing was also coming along marvelously. Quinn felt confident that he could dance in front of an audience without embarrassing himself and his partner. Quinn's calligraphy was still a work in progress because of his child's hands, and from his teachers' expressions, he could say that he was doing quite well.
But, things were about to change because two years after the day Quinn transmigrated, Quinn was ready to make a huge step in his pursuit of magic.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- (Some information about the characters.)
Quinn West - MC - 6 years old - in pursuit of the magic.
Lia West - Elder sister - 16 years old (6th-year student) - Beauxbaton Academy Of Magic.
George West - Grandfather - Good guy
Polly - West family house-elf - Cleaning Expert.
In this chapter, we saw things from George West's, progress on magic, some technicalities about what Quinn could do, and a time skip.
Let's see what I can come up with in the next chapter.
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Today was Quinn's second anniversary of finding himself stranded in this world. In the last year, Quinn had worked hard on magic, and the more he used it, the more he fell in love with magic. Even though he hadn't even scratched the surface of magic, and Quinn's knowledge was equivalent to a drop in the ocean.
But Quinn was about to take another step to improve his magic. Quinn stood in front of Lia's room, ready to get what he had failed to take last year.? ?
'Last year, I wasn't ready to get the resources to advance my magic, but now I am ready.' Quinn thought about his last year's plan, and after slapping his cheeks for focus, he knocked on Lia's door.
He waited for Lia to respond, and he heard, "Come in." from Lia. He opened the door and entered the room. There he saw Lia, sitting on her bed and reading a French fashion magazine. Quinn entered the room with a toy car following behind him. Lia looked up from her magazine and saw Quinn and his toy entering the room. She thought someone might have charmed the car to follow behind Quinn, so she didn't pay attention to it, but in reality, Shun was pulling the toy car with magic as practice.
She saw Quinn climbing up on the bed but then looking behind him as if to find something, and then his eyes fell on the car on the floor, so he climbed down and grabbed the car before climbing onto the bed once again.
'So, cute! He thought the car would follow him up on the bed.' A wide smile appeared on her face as she watched Quinn. Quinn had gotten quite good at acting as a child and sometimes wondered if he should pursue a career in acting. Quinn sometimes joked to himself that he was a method actor who stayed in character all day long.
Back to the situation in Lia's room, she saw her brother continue to play with his toy car on her brother and thought, 'He will not ask me to play with him, then why did he come to my room? Well, whatever. Oh, this dress is nice.' Seeing that Quinn would not ask her to play with him, she went back to reading her magazine.
All of this was part of Quinn's plan; he purposely didn't talk to Lia and continued to pass the time by playing with the toy car using magic. And to be honest, making vroom-vroom noises while moving the car with magic was funny in its own way.
From the corner of his eye, Quinn stole a glance at Lia and thought, 'Now, I just have to wait for a while.'
Last year, before Quinn had any connection to his magic, he had tried to find some answer to kick start his magic and start a connection to his magic. But because he hadn't taken the language of the book in Lia's library into consideration. The books were in French, and that had shut down the entire plan. But this time, he was prepared and was confident that he would score that book today.
So Quinn waited for around twenty minutes and then made his move. He stopped playing with his toy car, climbed down from the bed, and after dilly-dallying for a minute, he made his way to the bookshelf and began his search for that first-year magic theory book and found it on the lowest shelf. A smile threatened to split his face as he gleaned at the cover of the book and clearly understood the writing.
He sat down on the spot and read the book, and the world around Quinn went quiet. He had waited for this moment for such a long time. Now that the book was in his hands, all his attention was on the book. He began reading the words written in French, all unnecessary thoughts vanished from his mind, and he became immersed in the writing.
Quinn didn't know how long he had been reading the book, but a touch broke him out of his focus and brought him to the real world.
"Quinn?" (Lia)
Quinn felt like a bus had hit him. He sucked in a deep breath and dazedly looked towards the voice and found Lia looking at him, but Quinn.exe was currently down. It took Quinn a couple of seconds to reboot and replied,
"Yeah?"
Lia stared at Quinn for a couple of seconds, which made Quinn worried. He hadn't meant to get lost in the book, but he did, and not only did he forgot Lia was still there in the room, but he also took a second to reply, which may have come out as weird, given the fact he was staring at her face.
"What are you doing?" Lia questioned as she eyed Quinn with her school textbook.
This time Quinn was quick to follow as he put on a big smile and showed Lia her book.
"I was reading this book."
Lia squatted near her brother and grinned.
"Really? How about you read me something from there?"
Quinn nodded rapidly, and then like a child, he loudly recited the first paragraph from the first chapter of the book.
"Magic is a force that changes aspects of the world at fundamental levels. The ability for humans to use magic is a he-hereditary trait passed down from a person's ancestors, which allows witches and wizards to practice it." (In French)
Quinn purposely stuttered and slowed down his pace to make it more believable for a child his age. Quinn's performance astonished Lia and hugged him with beaming smiling and praised him,
"Oh my god, Quinn, that was excellent! You are a smart one, aren't you? Aren't you~."
Quinn giggled happily and hugged her back, and then made his move. He held the book in front of her and requested. "Lia, can I have this book? I like it, please!"
Lia couldn't resist the sparkle in Quinn's eye. She looked at the cover of the book and saw that it was a textbook from her first-year and pondered, 'I don't read it anymore, and I guess it won't do him any harm. Plus, he loves magic so much.'
"Okay, you can keep the book, but only if you promise to take care of the book."
Quinn cheered and celebrated by hugging the book.
"Thank you, Lia! I promise I will take care of the book, pinky promise!" He put out his pinky, and Lia interlinked her own with a soft smile on her lips.
(Scene Break)
Later that day, Quinn sat in front of the table in his room, and on the table was the leather-bound book titled Magical Theory by Irene Joliot-Curie. He rubbed his hands and opened the book, and began reading from where he had left in Lia's room.
Quinn began reading what this book offered, and over the next few days, Quinn would immerse himself in the book whenever he had free time. It was after a week that he finally decided that he had read and understood enough.
So, the next time he was alone, Quinn immediately retrieved the small glass bead(marble) from his pocket and set it in front of him.
Quinn's original approach of using push and pull was an indirect way of influencing an object, but the popular and mainstream uses of magic were to influence them directly.
Quinn stared at the marble as he contemplated his one week of reading,
'Hmm… If I were to slice something with magic, then there would be two ways of doing it. The indirect method would be something like using a magic creating wind blade and launching it towards the target. Whereas the direct approach would be to use something like a severing charm (Diffindo) to directly cut the target.
My approach was the indirect approach. I was creating a push and pull force to affect the object.'
The marble in front of Quinn moved. He was making the marble move with his original pull-and-push method. The marble moved faster and faster, and it came to where Quinn lost control of it, and the marble shot in a straight line away from Quinn, but then Quinn's pupils narrowed, and the marble suddenly and unnaturally came to a dead stop.
Quinn's pull-and-push method hadn't caused the stop, but with the new direct application of magic. He commanded his magic to erase all the momentum of the marble, and it worked. Quinn had used the imagery of a stationary marble and the intent of stopping the marble.
Quinn stared at the stationary marble with a toothy grin splitting his face, and Quinn knew he had taken another step towards improving his magic. Even though things had just gotten much more complicated, he knew it was because the ways he could approach magic had expanded.
He looked at the magical theory textbook and spoke to no one in the room.
"Let's get started."
Over the next month, Quinn progressed more than he had done in the last year. He had to start from scratch. The only thing that had transferred from his work last year was the range. The rest of it he had to build from grounds up. It was tougher than the four option push-and-pull. This time he was working with new concepts and techniques.
After one month, he could control objects within a five-meter range. Heck, he had improved more than he did in his previous one-year. Now, he could make objects levitate and move them in the air. Previously, he could levitate objects and move them, but it was messy with extremely bad control and mobility.
Now, he had reached the point of magic-based telekinesis. He could attract objects, put them back in their place, do things he could usually do with his hands, and some more. He could fold the duvet when he got up in the morning, he could squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube, and brush his teeth better than he could with his hands. As always, because of Quinn's incomplete knowledge, he would've to do one task at a time. If he wanted to open a drawer to take something out, he would've to look at the drawer, then take out the object, wait for the object to come to him, and then close the drawer.
At the end of the month, Quinn was ready to move on to another type of magical application. He had done enough of telekinesis and wanted to do something, but before he could decide what to do, Quinn was called in by his grandfather and told some shocking news.
(Scene Break)
George looked at Quinn and informed him, "Quinn, the day after your sister leaves for Beauxbaton for her sixth year, we will leave the manor to travel the world." (In French)
Quinn blinked twice before inquiring with uncertainty in his voice, "Travel the… world? What does that mean?" (In French)
"It means we will go to a lot of different and fun places, but we won't be coming back home for a long time." (In French). George patiently explained things to Quinn.
Quinn understood his grandfather was talking about a long-term world tour. What he couldn't understand the timing of this decision. It would be after their return from this trip that he would get to know the reason for this trip.
"What about Lia? Will she come with us?" (In French)
George shook his head and repeated, "No, as I told you, she will be in school when we leave. Plus, she is going to spend the break between her sixth and seventh year traveling separately with her friends.
But don't worry, we will return home for Christmas and Easter break to spend time with her." (In French)
(Scene Break)
The day before the start of the trip, Quinn stood in front of a fireplace in the West Manor. This fireplace was special as it was the part of the Floo Network, and today was the day Lia was going to leave for Beauxbaton, and they were going to the Department Of Magical Transportation, Portkey Authority Office.
To the students who came from outside of France, Beauxbaton would issue portkeys to the school town near the Beauxbaton, but the portkey would activate inside in a designated area inside the Portkey Office, so every year, George would take Lia to the Ministry Of Magic, and see her off from there, and they would travel to the Ministry of Magic by Floo.
Quinn looked at Lia with a sad face. After years of knowing the older girl, Quinn had gotten close to her. He had gone from seeing her as a stranger to a friend to now seeing her as a sister and family. He was sad that he would not see her for a while, and even the time he was going to see her wasn't long.
Lia knelled in front of Quinn and put a hand on his cheek. "Little Quinn, don't be sad. I will write to you every week, so don't be sad."
Quinn nodded and replied. "Okay."
Lia pinched Quinn's cheeks and spoke. "Buy me gifts, okay?"
Quinn nodded and hugged her, and Lia returned the hug and whispered into Quinn's ears. "I have put a gift for you on your bed." Quinn looked at Lia with surprise and confusion, but she just smiled and stood up. She had already said goodbye to other people in the house, so she looked at George and said. "Let's go."
George nodded, and with a burst of green flames, both of them floo-ed to Ministry Of Magic.
After they had left, Quinn went to his room, and as Lia said, there was a small satchel sitting on the bed. He climbed upon his bed, opened the satchel, and inside there was a space much greater than the size of the satchel, and in that space were many books.
"Oh my, Undetectable Extension Charm has been used to expand the space inside the satchel. It is like Hermione's beaded handbag."
He looked at those books and found that they were the books from the first three years of Beauxbaton's curriculum. A folded sheet of paper on the top of the books caught Quinn's attention. He retrieved it from the satchel and unfolded the note to see it addressed to him. He began reading the letter and found that it was from Lia.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Little Quinn,
I know how much you love magic. You always read that book you took from me, and you are ever watching me doing magic. You might have thought that I didn't notice, but I know that you always sneaked glances towards my bookshelf or how your eyes sparkled whenever I performed magic for you.
Now that you will travel with our grandfather, you will be away from home, so I am gifting you these books, so read all you want. I know you will become a great wizard someday.
These books aren't mine. I have bought a new set for you. Now, you won't have to borrow books from me, so return the book you borrowed from me and use your new books.
But please take care of yourself. Take care of our grandfather and don't forget to write to me.
Love,
Lia
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn, with a smile, got down from his bed, and from his table, he picked up Lia's magical theory textbook. He ran out of the room and went to Lia's room. Quinn walked to her bookshelf and put the book back into its original place. He turned away and walked away from the bookshelf, but just before closing the door, he looked at the bookshelf and the book.
Quinn gave the book one last look before saying goodbye to his first magic book. Quinn knew it was just a book, but it still held a sentimental value. The door closed, and with that, he parted with the book.
(Scene Break)
The next day, Quinn and George West along with Elliot Dalton, George's butler, and Ms. Rosey, who was coming with them to take care of Quinn. Ever since Quinn had come to this world, she was the first person who Quinn saw in the morning when she came to wake him up, and the last person he saw before he went to sleep.
A kind but strict old lady who took care of Quinn and was the one who taught him dance, manners, and how to conduct himself in public.
Their first destination was Italy.
There they spent time in Rome. While in Rome, they paid the Vatican City, which even though was a hated spot for magic kind around the world was a beautiful destination. They moved on to Sorrento along with the island of Capri, Amalfi Coast, and Historical Ruins of Pompeii.
They visited Tuscany, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Milan, Venice, and ended the Italy tour with the Dolomites.
After Italy came Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. Followed by France, where they visited Paris, C?te d'Azur, Mont Saint-Michel, Provence, the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in the French Alps, and ended the France tour with the beach town Biarritz.
Quinn didn't get to meet any Veela in France, which disappointed him a bit because he wanted to experience the Allure before puberty hit him.
This ended their Europe tour as they moved to South Africa where they started out in Johannesburg in South Africa, Francistown in Botswana, Victoria Falls, followed by Zimbabwe and Zambia. They continued to Drakenburg and its magical community and ended the tour with Cape Town.
On the way to the Indian sub-continent, they rewound and relax in Abu Dhabi and enjoyed the luxury of Dubai.
The Asian continent tour started in Nepal where they explored Nepal, Everest Base Camp, Patan, and Pokhara. From Nepal, they moved onto Bhutan and extensively toured India for a while, and experienced one of the world's most diverse magical communities found.
Quinn also confirmed that parseltongue wasn't a sign of dark magic as parselmagic was prominent in India and many of the tribes performed parselmagic only. Indian mages used Sanskrit, the oldest magical language, as their language of choice. Also, it was fun to ride on the magic carpet. And, Quinn had to say Holi was a dope festival.
After they exited India, they visited Myanmar on their way to Thailand.
Thailand was the launching point for exploring Southeast Asia. Quinn's favorite moment in Thailand was when they diving with a gillyweed potion.
The next leg of the tour comprised Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It was the part of the tour where they detached themselves from the hustle and bustle and enjoyed the serene experience of these countries.
The first half of Asian tour ended with China and Taiwan as they experienced one of the oldest magical communities in the world. China was the world's leader in Ritual magic. It was also interesting to see how much China and Taiwan had changed since the separation.
The next part of the tour was to leave Asia for a while and visit New Zealand. Quinn found New Zealand had two islands whose magical communities differed completely from each other. Next they went to Australia whose magical community was like Britains which was surprising as the magical Britain hadn't colonized half of the world like their non-magical counterparts, so it was surprising to see two similar communities when they were so far from each other.
They once again entered Asia, and travelled to Japan, and Quinn saw what runes could accomplish, and the flexibility of Japanese language system in rune magic. The Japanese magical community wasn't as modern as he had imagined, but it was still a unique community and had its own unique flavor, plus ramen was amazing.
The Asian tour ended with a week in Fiji where they just relaxed on the beach and swam the full time. The night sky looked amazing in Fiji. He had to admit, lazing around and doing nothing in Fiji was amazing.
The next and the last part of the world tour was touring USA. They had spent a lot of time touring other countries till now and had to cut out any other countries in North America and all of South America.
American magical community was extremely isolated from their non-magical counterpart. The witch hunt in Salem and across America had caused an enormous crack between the magical and non-magical communities. The American magical community and the governing body MACUSA employed extreme measures to safeguard magical species. MACUSA allowed oblivation of non-magical (No-maj/Muggle) parents who mistreated their magical children.
America's Ministry Of Magic had passed a bill that would allow to the ministry to erase the memories of their children from non-magical parents' minds. It was a cruel practice, but American magical community made it up to the children who were taken away from their parents by treating their first-generation magicals (Muggleborns) with the best care and provided them with free education and home until they reached majority.
Quinn toured USA, and saw the advancements in spatial magic and charms that had allowed them to create spaces with the sizes of small cities inside small buildings, and this wasn't accomplished with Expansion charms but by creating gateways to artificially created dimensions.
Quinn knew that as he had shown an American mage, the bag that Lia had given him, and compared it to one of the gateways, and the American had proudly explained the difference to him.
After finishing the USA tour, it was time to return home.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Ok, another time skip as a world tour. In the next chapter, I will introduce one of my favorite magic, but with my own twist/explanation/system.
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An eight-year-old Quinn stood in his room in West Manor. After 21 months of traveling, the tour had finally ended, and he was back in Britain. Quinn had returned home yesterday, and after resting for one night, he began unpacking.
Well, he was going to unpack what he had bought throughout the tour. Polly, the house-elf, had already taken his clothes the moment they had entered the Manor.??
Quinn had the satchel upgraded during his travel, and all of his other things were inside the weightless satchel. He set down the satchel in front of him, and with a look, the satchel's flap opened, and one by one, hundreds of books flew out of the small satchel and began setting themselves in a bookshelf that Quinn had commissioned and set up his room.
Quinn smiled as the last book went into the bookshelf. These books were the ones he had bought throughout the journey. They weren't rare books, but common books that could easily be found in their country of origin. These books comprised the books used in curriculums of dozens of countries.
He knew the various magical communities were different, and every country had different ways to teach magic to their young magicals. In his previous life, he had heard a saying that had made a major impact on him.
The saying went as following, "There is a lot of information in this world, and everyone misses something, so you have to hang out with everyone."
Quinn couldn't hang out with people from other countries, but he could get their written knowledge, so with every country, Quinn bought the whole magical curriculum of every country. Every country had its preferred medium of language, and Quinn didn't understand many countries' books, but Quinn still bought them as he would have them translated.
Quinn also sighed when he looked at the books as he was quite nervous when he had requested his grandfather to buy the whole curriculum in Italy. But strangely, George hadn't even asked him the reason and directly bought him the books. He had even helped Quinn and helped him acquire the books so that nothing was missing.
He had even promised to get the books translated after they returned home.
After a few countries, Quinn didn't even need to ask and George directly bought him those books. Quinn was sure that neither George nor Lia knew he could perform magic without a wand, so George's actions greatly confused him. But he had gotten used to it after a few times.
Ironically, Quinn still didn't have Britain's magical curriculum, but it didn't bother Quinn as he had plenty of things to read, and he wasn't sure that he could read all of this before entering a magical school when he turned eleven years old.
Quinn hadn't been slacking off during the world tour. True, he had decreased the time devoted to magic as he was busy traveling different destinations. But he had read through all three years of the curriculum from English-speaking countries and from France as he knew how to read French.
And after reading through all of those books of different branches of magic, it convinced Quinn that buying these books was the right decision. As he predicted, there was a lot of overlap between books from different countries. But in each book, many things were unique or from a different perspective.
Quinn stood in front of the bookshelf. Quinn used his magic, and the chair behind him pulled itself out from under the table and stopped just behind Quinn, and he sat on it, admiring the view of the filled bookshelf.
Quinn had experienced various things during his travels, and that experience had changed him a lot. Before the tour, he only had magic on his mind, and little had changed about it from before. Magic was still his top priority, but after seeing the world, he knew that there was life outside of magic, and Quinn wanted to develop himself outside of magic.
He still didn't know why George had taken him out on that tour, but Quinn was thankful that he did.
As Quinn was thinking about the tour, Polly appeared using elf-apparition and informed him that his grandfather was calling him into his study. Quinn thought about what George might want from him.
"Maybe he will tell me why we on that trip."
Quinn walked to the study, and at the study door, he fixed his appearance and knocked on the door, waiting for his grandfather to invite him. After a second, he heard his grandfather's voice calling him inside.
He opened the door and entered the study, closing the door behind him. His grandfather's study was Victorian in design, and he had to say he preferred this design to the modern designs that he saw in his previous world. His eyes trailed to the door on the right wall that opened to the Manor's library.
He had been there a couple of times before going on the tour. There were magic books in there, but most of the books inside the library were about the family business, genealogy, family history, business laws in different countries, accounts, and his grandfather's collection of rare books.
Quinn removed his eyes from the door and looked at the study table in the room. He saw George sitting behind the study table, and in front of the table sat his elder sister Lia.
Lia had finally graduated from Beauxbaton Academy Of Magic and was ready for the next stage of her life. It turned out that you could study beyond the seven years of education as seen in the series. After the initial seven, you could apprentice under a certified master, join a vocational school like Britain's Auror Academy, or you could end your education and join the workforce immediately.
Quinn did not know what Lia was going to do after graduation, but from what he could see, even though Lia was good at magic, she wasn't that interested in it to start a career in magic.
Quinn smiled at Lia and then addressed George from the door, "You called for me, grandfather?"
George nodded and replied, "Yes, please sit down."
Quinn obliged and sat beside Lia in the other chair and waited for his grandfather to speak.
George looked at his two grandchildren and started speaking, "Now that Lia has graduated from school, it is time for her to decide what she is going to do next. Before we went on the trip, Lia talked to me, and she wanted to join the family business. At that time, I told her that if by her seventh year's Christmas break, she still wanted to join the family business, then I will groom her to be my successor."
He looked at Lia and asked her, "We talked the last time we were home, and Lia said that she still wanted to join the business, so I decided I will groom her to take over the business someday."
Lia nodded and spoke, "I want to work in the family business."
Quinn looked at his sister and laughed. "Lia will be the best business lady in the world. I know it!"
Lia giggled and ruffled Quinn's hair, "Thank you for the vote of confidence, little Quinn. I will work had to become what did you say, yes... the best business lady."
George had a hint of a smile on his face before it receded into his resting face and continued, "The grooming process is going to be like an apprenticeship. It will be extensive and will keep both of us busy for a long time. I decided that if Lia's final decision was to join the family business, then I would be busy and won't be able to spend a lot of time at home with Quinn, so I decided to go on a tour so that I could spend time with Quinn before, Lia and I became busy, and I knew that before I could complete Lia's training, Quinn would be old enough to go to school and then he will be out of the house for most of the year."
The reason for the trip surprised Quinn, and now that he knew the reason, it made sense. George was trying to make memories with him before he got busy, and Quinn grew old enough to go to school.
George now turned to Quinn and told him what was in store for him.
"Quinn, I have hired a teacher for you, and he will teach you a type of magic that a lot of children from magical families learn. So, be ready. He will come to our house twice a week to teach you."
Quinn's eyes began sparkling, and he for a moment forgot all the manners they had taught him, leaned forward, and asked in a bit too loud of a voice.
"Really! Who is he? What will he teach me? I can do it without a wand, or will I get a wand to practice it."
Quinn got a little excited but calmed down when he saw the expression on his grandfather's face. He sat up straight and muttered an apology while Lia chuckled into her hand.
George sighed before answering Quinn's question, "No, you won't be needing a wand for the magic, and the master I have hired has specifically said not to tell you about the contents of what he will be teaching. He doesn't want you to set some preconception about the branch of magic he teaches."
Quinn once again felt confused by his grandfather's words and asked, "Did Lia learn this magic?"
Lia nodded, and with a smirk, she teased, "Yes, actually know I think about it, I started learning this magic when I was seven, a year younger than you are."
Quinn knew Lia was just trying to tease him as she knew about his love for magic and how the fact that he could've learned it a year sooner would make him feel.
'Calm down, Quinn. Peaceful thoughts, don't let her get to you... Dammit!' Quinn couldn't help but feel jealous and puffed up his cheeks to show how he was feeling.
Quinn calmed down and replied to his grandfather, "I understand, grandfather."
That night, Quinn sat on his bed reading a second-year charms book from New Zealand. Even though Quinn learned the third-year curriculum. He still wasn't able to do any magic that was above the second-year standard.
The lack of a wand hindered Quinn's ability to do magic, and he had just enough control to perform spells that were considered to be on the second-year standard.
Quinn thought back to his travels, and the various magical focuses he had seen been utilized by magicals (wizards) of different countries. It turned out that wands were primarily famous in Europe, and there were other magical focuses used in other parts of the world.
What is a focus, you ask? Well, a focus is a quasi-sentient magical instrument through which a magical (witch or wizard) channels her or his magical powers to centralize the effects of spells or any feat of magic. Focuses were a norm in this world, and he had seen no magical human that didn't use a focus for performing magic.
A magical focus could be crafted from magical woods, materials from magical beasts, magically conducting gems or special metals. A combination of those materials could be made into wands, bracelets, staves, staffs, ornamental daggers, or talismans.
Some wizards or witches could perform magic without a focus, but that severely limited their capabilities.
Quinn shook his head of thoughts about wands and focuses and looked at the light on his bedside table; It was a magical candle covered by a glass case. Quinn focused his magic and willed the magic to increase the size of the flame. In a split-second, the flame grew to double its original size.
Quinn slowly funneled his magic, and carefully increased the flame to grow to triple and quadruple of its size, and then applied the part which made it sustain on its own. And, lo-and-behold, when Quinn stopped using magic, the flame remained on the increased size.
This was Quinn's replication of Engorgement Charm that caused the target to swell immensely. He could freely control the target's size and even decide how long the charm holds on the target. Quinn called it a replication and not a wandless (focusless) implementation because there was no spell light when Quinn performed the spell.
Like how the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra) shot out of the wand with green color, the Engorgement Charm shot out with an icy-blue color. But Quinn was able to eliminate the spell light from his execution, which made it Quinn's replication and not a spell.
Quinn might not be able to proceed past the second-year standard, but it didn't mean he couldn't improve upon what he already knew. When Quinn found that his control restricted his ability to proceed, he didn't feel down and begun experimenting with how spells work and replicate them in his own way. This not only solidified his knowledge, but his replications were easier for him to perform than the wandless versions.
Quinn felt that the magical core in his body had enough juice to perform one more spell. He once again looked at the bedside candle and pondered which spell should be used to revert the engorgement placed on the candle flame.
"I could either use the counter to Engorgement Charm, the Shrinking Charm, or I could just use the General Counter-Spell, Finite Incantatem. Hmm... let's go with the Shrinking Charm. I learned them together after all."
Once again, Quinn focused his magic and applied his replication of Shrinking Charm. The candle flame went back to its original size and then dispelled any of his magic on the flame. It freed the magical candle from any external magic source or influence. Quinn closed his book, sent it to the bookshelf, extinguished the candle by covering the lamp, and went to sleep for the day.
(Scene Break)
At the end of that week, Quinn found himself sitting in an empty room of the West Manor that had been furnished with two chairs and a table between two chairs.
In front of him sat a man who looked older than his grandfather, which made Quinn think about his age.
"Mr. West, if it satisfies your curiosity, I am twice as old as your grandfather.", the man spoke for the first time since Quinn had entered the room.
Quinn was confused for a second and thought, 'Did I spoke it out loud?'
Once again, the old man spoke, "No, Mr. West, you didn't speak that out loud."
Seeing the old man's smile, Quinn finally understood what was happening. He immediately broke eye contact with the old man. This caused the old man to chuckle.
"Oh my, your grandfather wasn't exaggerating about you being a smart child. It seems you know already know what I was doing."
Quinn ground his teeth as he spat out, "You used Legilimency to read my mind!"
The old man had the audacity to laugh, "You are correct, I used Legilimency to read your mind, but to be more specific, I read your surface thoughts. So, don't worry, I don't know any of your secrets, and you can look at me. I won't be reading your mind."
Quinn ignored the old man and continued to stare at his feet.
Seeing that, the old man spoke once again, "Mr. West, you should remember that your grandfather hired me, so it shows that he trusts me."
Quinn thought about it for a while and was seriously contemplating about barging into his grandfather's study and confirm if the old man was trustworthy but decided against it. He knew his grandfather wouldn't let anyone untrustworthy into the house, much less someone who would snoop around in his mind.
Quinn finally looked towards the old man's smiling face and the old man spoke once again.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Alan D. Baddeley and moving forward, I will be teaching you the magic of Mind Arts."
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - 8 years old - Interested in Magic.
Lia West - Elder Sister - 18 years old - Beauxbaton Graduate - Interested in Family Business.
George West - Grandfather - Head of West Family - Loves his grandchildren.
Alan D. Baddeley - Old Man - Teacher - Teaches Mind Arts.
-*-*-*-
NOTE - I might still call Quinn's replications as spells. It will make my work so much easier.
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Two people, one young, the other old, sat in a room. The old man sat in his chair with a smile on his face. From any angle, the older man was just a joyous old man, while the young child sitting on a stool was emitting the air of nervousness and tension. The merry old man was Alan D. Baddeley, while the young child was Quinn West.
Both were sitting in a room of the West Manor. Today was their first meeting and Quinn's first lesson on mind magic. The reason for Quinn's apparent discomfort was that Alan had snooped around in his mind using Legilimency and that on their first meeting, with no warning or permission.??
It wasn't a surprise that Quinn had a terrible impression of Alan after his blatant offense at reading his mind. Alan, who was looking at Quinn, continued as nothing had happened.
"Mr. West, before we begin, I would like you to tell me what do you think about mind magic. Please be assured, I am not expecting you to give a correct answer. Just tell me your thoughts when you hear the word mind magic."
Quinn, who had lost all his initial excitement about learning a new branch of magic, thought about the shitty old man's question and gave out his thoughts about mind magic.
"Mind Magic, as the name suggests, is the magic related to the mind. Any magic that affects the mind or explores the inner working of the brain comes under the category of mind magic."
Alan, with his ever smiling face, spoke in response to Quinn's answer. "Excellent, can you give me some examples of mind magic?"
Quinn immediately answered the question, "Occlumency and Legilimency."
Alan's smile widened, and he continued the Q-and-A, "Oh my, those are some heavy words that you threw out there. Can you give me some other examples of mind magic?"
Quinn frowned and thought about any other magic that could be categorized under mind magic, but he couldn't think of any other magic that came under mind magic. But just as he was about to shake his head, he remembered one more, "Oblivation is also a mind magic."
Alan leaned back into his chair and said, "Okay, not bad, but let me throw out a question for you to think. Have you heard about the Cheering Charm?"
Quinn nodded, "A charm that made the target feel elated. If overdone, it could cause the victim to overcome with fits of hysterical laughter."
"Excellent, excellent. Then wouldn't you say that the Cheering Charm affects the mind of the target? Wouldn't the Cheering Charm come under the category of mind magic?"
Quinn blinked twice, "B-but, the Cheering Charm... how can something like a trivial Cheering Charm be a mind magic."
Alan shook his head and countered, "Mr. West, magic being trivial has nothing to with its identity. As you said, any magic that affects the mind is mind magic. Cheering Charm, Bravery Charm, Jelly-Brain Jinx, Confudus Charm, Sleeping Charm, even potions like Love potions and Hate potions that affect the mind also come under mind magic.
My motive to tell you about this is to clear the confusion that things like Occlumency and Legilimency aren't the only magic that comes under mind magic. Mind magic, like any branch, is a wide field of magic. Many mysteries that need to be explored, many secrets that need to be unveiled."
Alan's revelation surprised Quinn. After listening to Alan's explanation, he agreed that even something like Cheering Charm was a form of mind magic. Before Alan's explanation, he never saw potions as a mind magic.
He looked up at Alan and spoke, "You are correct. Any magic that affects the mind is a mind magic."
Alan leaned forward towards the table, "Now, let's talk about the aim of these lessons. Your grandfather hired me to teach you the art of protecting your mind. You already know about it, don't you?"
Quinn answered, "Yes, Occlumency is the art of protecting your mind. It can prevent a Legilimens, a person who knows how to perform Legilimency, from accessing one's thoughts and feelings or influencing them. We know a person who practices this art as an Occlumens."
"Excellent!" said Alan, looking impressed with Quinn's knowledge. "But, let me tell you what an accomplished Legilimens could do against someone with no mental defenses."
Quinn turned serious as he hung onto Alan's every word.
"A novice Legilimens could perceive their target's emotions. That means that even though they couldn't look into their thoughts, they could still tell how you are feeling.
An intermediate Legilimens could perceive their target's surface thoughts. They could tell what you are thinking at the moment. Any intermediate Legilimens could do what I did to you.
A master Legilimens could dive into their target's mind and see their memories, experiences, and anything that the mind offers. They could know your every secret in a matter of minutes."
Quinn sucked in a sharp breath. He already knew what a Legilimens could do, but listening to it from a Legilimens' mouth was another thing. The thought that the person in front of him could know all his memories was a scary thought that was finally setting in, but it turned out Alan was just getting starting.
"Now above that..."
Quinn was shocked and ended up raising his voice. "There is more?!"
Alan raised his eyebrows and exclaimed, "Of course, anyone with enough aptitude for mind arts could accomplish this with enough practice. Please, note that we base these categorizations on a Legilimens' performance against an unprotected mind."
Quinn nodded, prompting Alan to continue.
"There is no categorization above master Legilimens as Legilimens take different paths after becoming masters in Legilimency. But, people like to call themselves Grandmasters.
Some would strengthen their prowess so that they could read memories from a practiced Occlumens. Others would seek other branches of Legilimens, like stimulating emotions inside the target or controlling people by influencing their minds. Then there are people who explore people's dreamscapes or in simple words dive into people's dream."
Quinn interjected with a query, "Controlling people like the Imperius Curse does?"
Alan wasn't surprised hearing Quinn mention an Unforgivable Curse, as children from magical families were educated about them.
"In a way, yes, while Imperius Curse makes people do things against their will, a grandmaster could plant suggestions inside their subconscious, making the target do their bidding and make it seem like the target did it out of their own free will. An Imperius Curse leaves traces on the mind, but a grandmaster wouldn't leave any trace of their presence."
Quinn felt goosebumps surface on his skins and chills going down his back. Alan didn't notice it and continued,
"Just think what someone could do if they got hold of your grandfather's mind. They would've so much wealth and influence under their control, and that is why magical families train their young ones against the attacks of a Legilimens by training them to become Occlumens."
Quinn nodded, thinking about the dangers of Legilimens having control of his grandfather's mind.
"Now, I would be teaching you how to protect your mind. I will teach you the art of Occlumency."
Before Alan could continue, Quinn interjected and asked a question.
"What is your level of Legilimency?"
Alan intertwined his fingers, his elbows on the table, and answered, "I am beyond the master level, Mr. West. I specialize in Mind magic and could do stuff you can't even imagine.". Alan stated as if not saying a terrifying fact.
And Alan's slight smile made it much more terrifying. Quinn gulped but braved forward, "Then why did you take a teaching job and that to a child who doesn't understand mind arts."
Alan laughed and spoke with joy evident in his voice, "Mr. West, you really are a smart child. You see, the people who study the mysteries of the mind and practice the mind magic often end up picking up a bad habit, an occupational hazard if that clears it.
To us, the average wizard seems like a mind begging to be explored and fiddled with. It is tantalizing to keep out of the minds of unsuspecting people, so they find various workarounds to suppress this urge to snoop around people's minds.
I personally chose to teach mind arts to curb my desire to snoop around in people's minds. When I am teaching, it is expected that our minds will be connected, frequently at that. Teaching mind arts to someone while maintaining proper protocol is enough for me. So be assured, I will not snoop around your mind untamed.
As to why I choose to teach a child? Mr. West, children are the best students for teaching mind arts. They are free and learn very quickly. And have the best imagination, which helps when practicing mind magic."
Quinn knew Alan was trying to assure him that everything would be fine, but Quinn knew that if he learned Occlumency, then a lot of Quinn's secrets would be revealed to Alan and then to anyone Alan shared that knowledge.
But it seemed Quinn had been worrying for nothing as Alan pulled out a thin stack of paper and set it on the table. Quinn looked at the stack of paper and then conveyed his confusion with his eyes to Alan.
"Mr. West, do you know what is a magical contract?"
Alan's eyes lit up, and he nodded. It turned out that magical oaths(so mote it be) weren't a real thing. Instead of oaths, there existed magical contracts that could bind someone to certain terms and conditions.
Alas, wizards and witches rarely use magical contracts as they bound their magic to the contract, which was the most important to a magical. Otherwise, corruption wouldn't exist in the magical world, but it did as no one was willing to sign magical contracts.
But there were rare cases where some will sign contracts that could, and it seemed this was one of those times.
"Excellent, I have signed this contract with your grandfather that will not allow me to divulge anything that happens during our lessons. I can't even talk about who I am teaching, which means it protects your identity.
I cannot willingly let someone look through my memories as a workaround, and there aren't many people who could break into my mind, so any things I see in your mind are safe with me, and I will take it to my grave.
I cannot even tell your grandfather what I end up witnessing. The only thing I can report to your grandfather is your progress."
Quinn looked at the magical contract in front of him and finally felt relieved. He would've leaned back into his chair if his stool had a backrest.
Alan noticed his relieved demeanor and ended up commenting.
"Mr. West, I don't sign contracts on every job I take, but sometimes my employers insist I do, and your grandfather insisted. Even those rare times I sign a contract, I don't talk about it to my young students as they are too young to understand, but your grandfather told me I should let you know about this contract." Alan stared into Quinn's eyes as he continued, "I am curious what makes you so different from my other students."
Quinn, who had just finally relaxed, again stiffened up because of Alan's words and expression and up cursing him in his mind, 'This shitty old man. Is he trying to kill with anxiety and fright!'
Alan laughed and spoke, "Mr. West, you need to relax."
Quinn's eyes widened, and then his brows furrowed as he growled, "Did you just read my mind?!"
Alan shook his head and teased, "No-no-no, your expression tells it all. I have to say, I am already having so much fun!"
Quinn gritted his teeth but refrained from speaking as he knew that the old man was trying to irk him.
- (Scene Break) -
That day, Alan taught nothing to Quinn, and they just went over what he will teach in the future. After the lesson was over, Quinn felt exhaustion from all the shocks he had received today, and he dragged his body to the manor's garden where he was told his grandfather was having tea.
Quinn entered the garden canopy and sat in front of his grandfather. When he sat down, Polly popped near the table and asked him if he wanted any refreshments. Quinn was too exhausted to have an appetite and refused.
He waited for his grandfather to speak up first, and George asked. "How was the lesson with Mr. Baddeley?"
Quinn sighed and graced the question with a simple reply, "It was stressful."
"Why so?" George asked before placing a piece of scone in his mouth.
"It was stressful knowing that he could, and he did it the first thing I entered the room," Quinn felt tired just from thinking back to the lesson.
George looked at Quinn before asking, "Didn't he tell you about the contract."
"He did, but he revealed the contract after thoroughly explaining what a Legilimens could do with an unprotected mind." Quinn could swear that he heard his grandfather chuckle, but maybe he was mistaken because when Quinn looked up, George looked stoic as ever.
Quinn thought about Alan and remembered why he came to see his grandfather, "What can you tell me about Mr. Alan D. Baddeley?"
George sipped his tea and waited for a moment before speaking, "Mr. Alan is a wizard from New Zealand, from what I have heard, he used to be very active in the mind arts community as a forerunner in research, but he distanced himself from the research community two decades ago and switched to teaching around fifteen years ago.
His track record has been excellent, which is very necessary for this line of work, so I hired him after asking around."
Quinn noticed something and asked, "He didn't teach Lia?"
George shook his head and revealed, "I asked Lia who taught her as your parents chose her teacher, her teacher wasn't available, so I had to find someone else."
Quinn nodded. He had already asked all he needed to ask, so he excused himself, "I will excuse myself. I want to take a brief nap before continuing my day."
George nodded, and Quinn left. Elliot, who was standing nearby, approached George and asked, "Was it alright to hire Mr. Baddeley. The young master looked tired."
George looked towards Quinn's retreating back and explained, "I choose Mr. Baddeley because of his reputation. He doesn't have a family, and before switching to teaching, he had devoted his life to his craft.
Even though Mr. Baddeley is a wizard from New Zealand, he traveled the world to hone his craft. He has traveled the world for around a century. Think about how much he would have learned from his travel. Now, think about Quinn's request for books from every country we visited.
Even though the scale is completely different, both of them are similar in how they approach learning, so when I heard about Mr. Baddeley's life, I hired him after checking his reputation."
Elliot's brows raised in surprise after listening to the reason for hiring Mr. Baddeley. He found his impression of the seemingly ordinary joyous old man changing.
"As for Quinn, he followed Ms. Rosey's daily instruction without a peep. Mr. Baddeley might be eccentric, but I doubt he will have anything on Ms. Rosey. Quinn will adapt after a few lessons."
He turned his head to look at Elliot and instructed, "When Quinn gets used to the Occlumency lessons, you are to teach him about potion brewing."
Elliot nodded and asked, "Am I to prepare the garden for some herbology to accompany the potion brewing?"
George nodded in response, and they spoke no more words.
One thing was for sure, Quinn had a busy year in front of him.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - 8 years old - Out for a nap
Alan D. Baddeley - Mind Arts Teacher - Likes to mess with people.
George West - Grandfather - Likes his tea time.
Elliot Dalton - Butler - Potion teacher to be.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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!!And finally, we have finally crossed 15,000 words that would put us on the map on the site and we would be on the charts.!!
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Like the first lesson, Quinn sat on a stool in front of Alan, who sat on a wing chair. A table in between separated them. The room's door was closed, and Alan allowed no one to enter the room unless it was an emergency or of utmost importance.
Alan, with a smile on his face, began his lessons, "Mr. West, before learning how to become an occlumens and learning occlumency, we would have to get you familiar with how Legilimency feels like. Last time, you weren't able to feel me using Ligilimency when I was inside your mind, but this time I will make my presence known loud and clear."??
Even though Quinn knew Alan wouldn't divulge any information Alan saw in his mind, Quinn couldn't help but feel fear. After all, a secret remained a secret if only one person knew about it.
Quinn took in a deep yet shaky breath and acknowledged.
"Good, rest assured, I will only read your emotions, so don't worry, for now, that is. Let's begin," Alan assured Quinn.
Alan stared into Quinn's eyes, and Quinn clearly felt a strange pressure inside his brain. It wasn't like a headache but akin to a heaviness that spread throughout his head.
Quinn heard Alan speak in a calm and baritone voice, "Mr. West, can you describe to me how are you feeling?"
He nodded and replied, "There is a heaviness in my head that started out in the back of my head but soon spread out my entire head."
"Excellent, this is how it feels to have a Legilimens inside your head. But, keep this in mind, my current approach is a gentle one. If a Legilimens, who doesn't care about his approach, could cause pain and damage to the target's mind," There was a pause before Alan continued, "Would you like to tell me about your current emotions?"
Quinn froze but then nodded, so Alan complied, "You are currently feeling panic, fear, nervousness, and a bit of excitement. Am I correct?" Quinn nodded in agreement, and Alan spoke once again, "Excellent, your current emotions are perfectly normal. Now, I am going to retreat from your mind, understood?"
After getting a confirmation, Alan smoothly retreated from Quinn's brain, "I am out of your mind. You can calm down now."
Quinn released a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed his shoulders. Alan once again leaned back into the backrest of his chair and spoke, "How was it?"
Quinn closed his eyes and thought about his experience before speaking, "It wasn't what I had imagined. I thought it would hurt."
Alan chuckled and shook his head, "Mr. West, I have been doing this for a while now. I know how to teach without causing pain," Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, but he froze when Alan continued, "Of course, there will be a time when you have built your occlumency shields. At that time, I will introduce you to brute-force legilimency, which might hurt if you aren't able to defend properly."
Quinn glared at the shitty old man (Alan), to which Alan just laughed.
"Now that you know what Legilimency feels like. I would tell you what Occlumency can do for you. But, before I start, I would like to tell you that every teacher has a different way to teach Occlumency. So my method of teaching will be different from another teacher."
Quinn dropped his glare and intently listened to Alan, "There are three basic facets of occlumency. First is the defense aspect, which will help you protect your mind from external mental attacks."
With each point, Alan uncurled his fingers, "Second, emotional aspect, which will help you control your emotions. And, the third and final aspect is the aspect of efficiency, which will increase your brain's productivity."
Quinn remained silent as Alan continued, "Your grandfather hired me to help you with the first aspect, the aspect of defense. I will train you to build your occlumency defenses. The strength of your defenses will depend on your comprehension and hard work."
Quinn uncapped a pen and jotted down Alan's words. Seeing this, Alan waited before continuing.
"Now, let's finally teach you something. The first piece of your occlumency defense will be the outermost detection layer. This layer will help you detect a Legilimency attack. Let me explain how this detection layer would work. In our first meeting, I used Legilimency without you noticing, but in my previous demonstration, I made my presence know, right?"
Quinn affirmed, "I wasn't able to feel anything during our first meeting."
"This detection layer would make a Legilimens' presence know to you. You would feel that familiar heaviness in your head.
Eyes can provide a gateway to the mind, and many Legilimens like to use eye contact to enter your mind. Of course, some are powerful enough to directly enter the mind without needing eye contact.
If the attacker is using eye contact to enter your brain, immediately break eye contact and then pull up your defense shields. If they are proficient enough to not using eye contact and can use legilimency with it, then again pull up your defense shields and keep them out."
Quinn kept taking notes and asked a question that popped into his mind. "If someone is using eye contact, and I break eye contact, am I safe from the attack?"
Alan shook his head and answered, "No, sometimes just a split second of eye contact can give a trained Legilimens time to latch onto your mind. With that, they could keep on attacking you even after breaking eye contact. So, always activate your defenses no matter what the situation."
Quinn nodded and noted down the instructions and let Alan continue, "Now, keep those notes aside. It is time to build your shields. I will once again enter your mind and make my presence known. Next, you will concentrate on that heaviness, focus your magic, and create a layer over the manifestation of your mind. And, while building that layer, create with the intent of detection. Your intention should be clear that you want to feel the same heaviness when someone attacks your mind."
Quinn had another question for Alan, "Do I need to imagine feeling heaviness. Can't I imagine some other sensation?"
Alan clapped his hands and praised, "Another excellent question! The answer to your question is that you don't have to choose heaviness as the sensation of choice. You see, everyone feels a distinct sensation when facing mental attacks.
This sensation can range from your heaviness, burning sensation, freezing sensation, slight dizziness, pricking sensation, buzzing sensation, pain from a choice of various options.
When I was being taught, I felt a burning sensation. In my research, I found that even though it is not necessary to choose your natural sensation, it is easier to imagine when building your detection layer.
Like a person who feels pain when attacked, no matter how gentle of an attack would have to choose some other sensation.
So, because you felt heaviness, it is advisable to imagine heaviness as your detection signal. My detection layer makes me feel a subtle burning sensation on the inside of my head."
Quinn felt assured about Alan's capabilities as he was able to explain his query flawlessly.
"Ok, I will follow your advice and build my detection sensation to be the feeling of heaviness."
Alan nodded, and by Quinn's permission, he entered Quinn's mind and made his presence know. Quinn felt a heaviness throughout his head, showing that Alan was in his mind. He began imagining a layer over his mind and concentrated on the feeling of heaviness.
After failing to create a layer for a minute, Alan spoke up in the same calm and baritone he used while using Legilimency.
"Mr. West, calm down and stop concentrating on the feeling of heaviness." Quinn obeyed and stopped concentrating and soon felt Alan retreat from his brain.
Quinn furrowed his brows and looked at Alan, who started explaining. "We will try in another five minutes. Every attempt will be a minute long and a five-minute interval between each attempt. When you are successful, both you and I will feel a layer over your mind. Now, relax till your next attempt."
Quinn breathed out a sigh and thought back to his first attempt. He wasn't able to imagine a layer at all. He began contemplating how he could do it differently.
Alan silently watched Quinn thinking and said nothing to disturb Quinn. Building an occlumency defense was a slow and steady process. Each piece of the defense needed to be built one by one and then connected to close any loophole and complete a system that would protect your brain.
"Mr. West, five minutes are up. We are starting again.". Hearing that, Quinn once again felt the heaviness in his brain and concentrated his magic to construct a layer over his mind.
Another minute passed, and Quinn yet again failed to construct a detection layer. By the end of the lesson, Quinn still had not created a detection layer and felt frustrated. Even though it was only his first day of constructing a detection layer, he felt like this was the repeat of his first year when he didn't have access to his magic.
"Mr. West, please don't feel disheartened. Occlumency is a gradual process. It will take time to build each individual layer. I am sure that you will build one, eventually." In his mind, Alan assumed that it will take Quinn at least a couple of weeks to build the detection layer.
But that day, when Alan left, he failed to see Quinn's expression.
When it came to magic, Quinn was competitive to a fault.
- (Scene Break) -
Alan came to teach Quinn twice a week, once on Tuesday and next on Friday. Alan had left returned on the next Tuesday for their third lesson.
He sat in his chair in their designated room, waiting for Quinn to arrive. While he waited, Alan thought about Quinn's progress.
'If Mr. West perseveres with no complaints, it will take him at least another four lessons to construct that shield. If he loses motivation, it may take him an entire month to build the detection layer.'
He broke out from his thoughts when he heard the door open and saw Quinn enter the room. Alan immediately put on a smile, thinking about what kind of emotion Quinn would show when he would mess with him during the lessons.
As usual, Quinn sat on his stool and spoke, "Good morning, Mr. Baddeley."
"A good morning to you as well, Mr. West. Are you ready for another try at building your detection layer?" Alan saw Quinn nod his head, so he continued, "Excellent! Before we start. I will once again explain the process. I will use legilimency to enter your mind and make my presence known. When I enter your mind, you will feel a sensation of heaviness in your head, on which you will concentrate and try to build a layer over your mind with the intent of feeling the heaviness when faced with a mental attack."
Quinn once again nodded, "Please, start. I am ready."
Alan made clear eye contact with Quinn and then used Legilimency to enter his mind. The moment he entered Quinn's mind, he saw a thin layer over covering Quinn's mind. Alan's eyes widened when he saw the layer, and then he looked at Quinn's face, which had a smile plastered upon it.
"Detection Layer, constructed and ready to detect any mental attacks.", said Alan with a cheeky and smug smile on his face.
Alan was only reading Quinn's emotion right now because if he was reading his surface thoughts, then he would have heard, "Take that, you shitty old man."
Alan retreated from Quinn's brain and stared at him, surprised, "How did you manage to build that layer? Last time, you weren't even close to constructing the layer."
Quinn puffed his chest and explained,
"After you left, I wasn't happy with my performance, so I kept on practicing and failing, until yesterday when I was able to cover my entire mind with the detection layer.
I have to say, it wasn't easy to imagine the sensation of heaviness while trying to cover my brain without you constantly in my mind. It took me maybe a hundred tries to get that layer with the correct intent."
Alan kept staring at Quinn and felt an intense urge to dive into Quinn's mind and see how he did it, but restrained himself. One didn't live for more than a century and fail to build up some form of self-control.
"Now that I have this layer, what are we going to do next?" Inquired Quinn, excited to learn the next stage of Occlumency defense.
Alan snapped out of his thoughts and explained the next stage, "The next stage is to strengthen your detection layer. We need to improve your detection capabilities so that you could detect mental attacks from master Legilimens."
Quinn felt his excitement deflate as he asked, "Let me guess, you will attack me while masking your attack and then wait for me to pick up on the attack."
Alan had recovered from his surprise and was back to feeling joyous as he looked at Quinn's deflated figure.
"How very insightful of you, Mr. West. Let's start, shall we?"
Quinn groaned as he got ready for another day of rinse and repeat. He sighed and asked for the details, "So, how does the process of strengthening my detection layer work?"
"It is quite simple. You see, there are quite a few ways to attack the mind. What I will do is simply employ different ways to attack your mind.
For example, I can puncture a hole in your layer and then pass through it or treat your detection layer as a cloth or sieve and let my magic filter through your layer without damaging it at all.
Every Legilimens has their own unique way of attacking the mind. If I attack you with various methods, then with time and practice, your detection layer will become more and more robust, and in the future, your layer will know what kind of attack we are facing."
Alan explained the process to which Quinn asked a question, "What about a type of attack which I have never faced before. Will my detection layer still detect that attack?"
Alan nodded and answered the question, "Yes, it will. Mr. West, a major property of magic, is that it works on intent. If you want your layer to detect an intruder, it will. All we are doing is helping it along the way.
By having you face different methods, I am making you believe you can detect different attacking methods. And Mr. West, Intent simply is the belief that you can do what you want to accomplish."
Quinn wrote everything down and nodded to Alan. Then the new cycle of controlled mental attacks began. For the next three months, Alan would visit the West Manor twice a week and use various methods of attacking the mind.
Quinn's progress continued to surprise Alan. In twenty-four lessons, Quinn had learned to detect twenty-four different methods of breaking into the mind.
It was at that time when George asked Alan to give a report on Quinn's progress.
- (Scene Break) -
George and Alan sat in George's study to discuss Quinn's Occlumency progress.
"How is Quinn doing with his Occlumency lessons?" Asked George to Alan, who sat in the chair in front of the table.
Alan, with the usual smile on his face, reported. "Your grandson is extremely talented in Occlumency." Alan looked towards the table as he continued, "Your grandson isn't a natural occlumens, but I have seen no one who isn't a natural occlumens showcase this level of progress."
Natural Occlumens/Legilimens were people, who through pure instinct, learn how to perform Occlumency/Legilimency. If these people are taught mind arts, then their progress would be extremely fast. It was like teaching a Metamorphmagus how to do self-transfiguration. They would learn it without even trying it.
George tapped his fingers on the table and asked, "What are you implying?"
"I am currently teaching your grandson to detect mental attacks and am using different methods to attack his defenses. My original plan was to teach him to detect ten methods before moving forward to build his shields. But, in twenty-four lessons, he learned how to detect twenty-four different methods.
If he was a natural occlumens, he would have some kind of rudimentary defenses, but Quinn had no defense. I could walk into his mind like I was in the park."
Alan knew about this because he was a natural at both occlumency and legilimency. Before he even started learning both of these magic, he already had a rudimentary shield and could sense people's emotions when he looked into their eyes and concentrated. After he started learning, his progress was just as fast as Quinn's.
After hearing, George asked, "Then, what do you think is the reason for Quinn's quick progress."
Alan shrugged while giving his reason, "I have no idea. It just amazes me how quick he has progressed from scratch. He went from having no defenses to now being able to detect an intermediate Legilimens' attack with ease. I am quite excited to see his future progress."
[A/N: Novice Intermediate Master Grandmaster(?)]
It would be a while before Alan would come to know the memories of Quinn's magical adventures and would think, 'Ah, this child is just good at magic.'
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - Eight years old - MC - Learning how to PROTECC his mind.
George West - Grandfather - Likes to spend time in his study.
Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Surprised to see Quinn's progress.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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After three months of slaving away at detecting mental attacks, Quinn was finally ready to move onto the next stage. But, Quinn had to admit that the previous three months, even though tough, were extremely productive. His detection layer had gone from being a flimsy film to a potent screen that wouldn't let a legilimency attack go unnoticed.
Quinn felt excited as he was finally going to learn the next step. Just like for the past three months, Quinn arrived at the designated room and found Alan sitting in his wing chair. Alan could tell from Quinn's smile that he was excited about moving on to the next step.??
Alan waited for Quinn to sit down on his stool before beginning. "Mr. West, you look excited. What is the occasion?"
If it had been any other day, Quinn would have glared at Alan for messing around, but today he was just too happy and excited to quarrel with Alan and laughed. "We are going to learn the next step. You said so in the last lesson."
Alan could understand Quinn's elation as he had been in contact with Quinn's emotion while improving Quinn's detection layer. While Quinn had been working diligently at improving his detection layer, he didn't find it enjoyable. He was fine the first month, he tolerated it in the second month, but in the third month, Alan could feel Quinn's boredom while working at new variations of mental attacks.
"Ah yes, the next step. So, Mr. West, can you tell me what is the next step?"
Quinn placed a book on the table and answered, "According to this book, the next step is building occlumency shields or simply mental shields."
The book in question was a book on Occlumency written by Alan. He titled it 'An Occlumens' Treasure Trove, Vol. 1.' Quinn was skeptical reading the title, but he knew better to judge a book by its cover, and he was right, as the contents of the book justified the gaudy title. Quinn hadn't completed reading the guide, but what he had read was insightful.
The book was one of the reasons that Quinn could complete twenty-four methods in twenty-four lessons. The book was filled with theory, tips, tricks, and experiences. Quinn had read that and applied everything he understood to the practical lessons with Alan.
And while the book was a pleasure to read, at the same time, it was torture as Alan had spelled the book so that he couldn't read ahead. The spell only allowed Quinn to read the content related to the upcoming lesson and not a word ahead of that.
The only thing Quinn knew that volume one of this book had everything Alan would teach him and that there were two more volumes that Alan would give at the end of completion of the occlumency course. And Quinn couldn't buy this book in the market as it wasn't publicly available.
"I am happy that you are reading ahead. And, you are correct. The next step is building a shield for your mind. You have a detection layer which is excellent as it will alert you to the presence of the legilimens' attack. But nothing is keeping the attacker from entering your mind, as even if you know that there is an attack, you might not be able to stop the attacker in time.
You need a shield that would block the legilimens out of your mind. Even if your shields are not strong enough to keep the legilimens out indefinitely, it is still useful as it would give you enough time to counter-attack the attacker before they could break the shield and enter your mind."
Alan finished with the benefits and uses of an occlumency shield, to which Quinn asked a question, "Is it possible to create a shield that would be impenetrable to legilimency attacks."
Alan put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his palm, "Mr. West, understand nothing is perfect. There will always be some way to break an occlumency shield. If a method is not found today, then it would be found in the future.
I have a philosophy that has served me well throughout the world. I resent perfection; attaining perfection means that there is no room to improve, that you have stopped growing and have reached a plateau in your development. Perfection stops you from exploring new ideas and hinders progress.
That is why focusing on progress is the key. It motivates you to keep going and encourages a mindset of learning. When you make progress, it gives you a reason to celebrate and help you gain satisfaction from your work.
Perfectionism isn't sustainable because life is ever-changing. There will always be new trials and tribulations that will sway you from your target. You need to be nimble and flexible to manage all the challenges life hands you. By focusing on progress, you can easily overcome obstacles because you know there will be ups and downs. Know you don't have to be perfect. Know that the path to success isn't a straight line. This knowing keeps you on the path to success."
Alan's words mesmerized Quinn. He didn't understand the meaning behind Alan's words, but they sounded inspiring, and maybe someday he would understand them, but for now, he would just remember these words.
Alan cleared his throat, "Ahem, we got off-topic. Let's return to the topic on-hand."
Quinn shook his head, "No, that was inspirational, but yes, let's return to shields."
Alan nodded and continued, "Building a shield is a simple yet arduous process. Unlike the detection layer, where you had to complete building the layer in one fell swoop, we build the shield bit by bit.
You need to cover the bottom side of your detection layer with a shield. How you want to build that shield is up to you. You can build the shield, like building a wall with layering bricks next to each other, or you can paint the inside of your detection layer until shield layers pile up and result in a thick shield.
There is no fixed way of building a shield, and you have to see what suits you. In the book, I have mentioned many methods that you can use to build your shield, but you are free to think of a way of your own, and we can discuss it.
For now, let's discuss how the process works..."
- (Scene Break) -
After that lesson, Quinn opened Alan's book on Occlumency and found that the section with shield construction was now readable, so he began reading the given examples. After reading through them, he didn't find a method that appealed to him.
Thus began the find for a shield that would make Quinn believe it was strong and reliable. Alan had explained to Quinn that he needed his construction method to be strong, as the intent was important for the shield's success.
So, after a few days of thinking, Quinn came with a method that he thought was best for him, and in the next lesson, Quinn relayed his thoughts to Alan via a drawing of his shield structure.
Alan looked at the drawing asked, "Mr. West, why do you think this structure is best for you. I will be honest; my first impression of this structure is not positive."
On the sheet of paper was a honeycomb structure. Hexagons lined next to each other, one hexagon covered by six other hexagons.
Quinn nodded and explained, "I took inspiration from the beehive. I know the structure that this structure is strong and very efficient to build."
Alan sighed and argued, "Mr. West, you might be true, but you are building a shield. Each of these hexagons is a hole through which a legilimens could drive his attack through."
Quinn put out his counter-argument, "Who said that I am only building a single layer of this structure. I am going to build layers upon layers of this so that there is no gap left. I will connect each hexagon to six hexagons by the sides but also connect the layers to each other."
He looked at Alan and said, "And, Mr. Baddeley..."
"Yes?"
Quinn smiled and declared, "I believe that this method is strong."
Alan's eyes widened, and he ended up smiling, "If this is what you want, then we will proceed with this structure."
The reason Quinn wanted to proceed with layered hexagon layers was not that bees used it in beehives. But, because it was the structure of the strongest material known to man, Graphene. He wanted to emulate Graphene's structure and make an excellent base for his defenses.
Quinn did not know why Graphene was the toughest material and didn't understand the science behind it. He only knew that it was made of hexagons, so he chose multiple graphene layers as his shield.
Quinn felt that he didn't need to understand the science behind Graphene's strength and only needed to believe that it was strong, and Quinn did believe that Graphene was strong, so he believed his shield would be effective.
After finalizing the structure of Quinn's shield, Alan began explaining the process, "Mr. West, you will start by focusing on your detection layer, then you will build a hexagon underneath the detection layer. Finally, you will build hexagons and interlock them with each other.
One hexagon at a time, you will build the first level of your shield. Next, you will repeat this entire process again and construct another layer, which you will lie on the first layer and connect the two layers."
Alan continued to explain the finer details of the process, and after he was finished, Quinn asked, "How many layers do I have to build?"
Alan showed three fingers and said, "You have three months to complete your shield. It will be up to your hard work and understanding how many you can build."
Alan sat straight, "Just like the detection layer, I will attack you with controlled legilimency, but it will be only on specific parts of your mind. This method is my own creation; combining targeted legilimency and your completed detection layer would help you focus on those specific parts of your mind.
I will stimulate specific parts of your detection layers, which will help you focus on those parts, and you will build hexagons on the targeted parts."
Quinn nodded, and they began the process. When Alan used Legilimency on Quinn, Quinn felt quite different, unlike the last three months, where the sensation of heaviness covered his entire head, but this time only a small part of his head felt the heaviness.
Quinn didn't start the construction process and asked, "How are you doing this?"
Alan spoke as they maintained eye contact, "Mr. West, my legilimency skills are much greater than your occlumency skills. I can deceive your detection layer to make it think that only specific parts of your mind are being targeted.
This method only works when there is an enormous gap between the legilimens and occlumency. If the legilmens and occlumens are closely matched in capabilities, then the legilimens won't be able to deceive the occlumens' defenses.
Even if you have built a detection layer, I can bypass it without triggering any response. It will be years before you can keep me out of your mind."
Quinn sighed at the implied meaning. He knew that if he kept on working on his occlumency skills, and then by the time Quinn was ready to join a magical school, he would be capable enough to protect himself.
But, Quinn had a hunch that even by the time he was ready to join a magical school, it would be exceedingly difficult to keep someone like Alan out of his mind. Alan was a mind art specialist, and that a century of experience would be difficult to catch up in a few years.
Quinn began building his first hexagon, and just as Alan had said, creating shield hexagons was easy, but he knew that he had a long way to go as one layer of hexagons comprised of ten thousand hexagons interlocked with each other.
So, a lengthy process of creating countless numbers of hexagons began. In ten weeks, Quinn constructed ten layers of hexagons. And in the remaining two weeks of the agreed three months, Quinn went through every single hexagon and made sure that they connected every neighboring hexagon. Every layer also needed to be connected to the neighboring layers in an offset manner.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn groaned as he banged his head once on the table. The past three months were yet another kind of struggle as Quinn had become numb while building one hundred thousand hexagons over three months.
He looked at Alan and asked, "Are we done? I don't think I can keep this up anymore. I would be happy to continue building more of my shield, but can we do it after some time? I am really sick of building hexagons every day."
While Quinn's production was the best when Alan was using legilimency on him, Quinn had taken upon himself to build hexagon shield-units outside of the lessons. He dedicated a couple of hours every day to his occlumency shield, and three months of this was Quinn's limit.
He hadn't said a peep to Alan in these three months, and even though Alan could feel the complaint through Quinn's emotions, but hadn't heard a single word of complaint from Quinn's mouths. But, after completing and connecting ten layers for his shield, Quinn begged for a change.
Alan smiled and gave Quinn the joyous news, "Mr. West, I had set the target time for your shield as three months, and in the last lesson, those three months were over, and I am happy to inform you that you have created a respectable shield, so we would be moving on to the next step."
Alan wasn't expecting Quinn to build ten layers. He knew Quinn was talented, but talent wasn't everything, and talent needed hard work to show extraordinary results. He thought Quinn would begin slacking off, and that thought was reinforced because he was in contact with Quinn's emotion in every lesson, so it was no secret that Quinn wasn't particularly thrilled doing the mind-numbing task.
But, Alan was wrong. Even though Quinn wasn't thrilled about the task, he nevertheless did the task without slacking off. The result showed work put in as Quinn had constructed and connected one-hundred thousand hexagons.
"The next and the final step to your defenses the last line of defense.", Alan said, revealing that they had reached the third and final part of an occlumency defense.
Quinn tilted his head and said, "The final step?"
Alan nodded and explained, "Let's imagine that a legilimens attack you; he or she passes through your detection layer, detected or undetected. Then they break through your shield by either breaking it or bypassing it without you knowing.
Now, what? We are at the mercy of the legilimens, so we will build a last line of defense. Something that will at least delay the attacker from accessing your mind."
Alan pointed to himself and continued, "For example, I am a legilimens, and when a legilimens attack you, they create a connection between mind, and I can use that connection to stop them by deploying a counter-attack."
"So, what will be my last line of defense," Quinn asked with excitement laced in his voice.
A smile appeared on Alan, which didn't bode well with Quinn, "Because I only trained you in the defense part of occlumency, your last line of defense would be another detection layer and a thinner shield."
Quinn was sure that he heard his mind broke, as he, for the first time since the start of the occlumency lessons, refused, "No, just no. I don't want to repeat that. Please, give me some alternate. I want to learn something else. You said that you can use legilimency as the last line of defense, teach me that."
Alan shrugged and replied, "Mr. West, I was hired to teach you how to defend your mind against legilimency. I am not contractually obligated to teach you anything else."
Quinn bit his lower lip and began tapping the table with his finger, and a few moments later, he spoke, "What if I ask my grandfather to alter your contract. Would you teach me then?"
Alan went silent and began thinking. This wasn't the first time a client had asked to extend or alter the service period. Usually, he would consider the pay and the student before extending his services, but never in his teaching career had he extended a service that came with a magical contract.
Magicals didn't like magical contracts binding them, and Alan wasn't any different. He only signed magical teaching contracts if the requirements weren't too severe and the pay was worth it.
Alan glanced at Quinn and thought about his latest student and the progress he had shown. People with natural talents were rare; he could count natural legilimens on his fingers. A magical like himself who was a natural at both legilimency and occlumency was once in a generation talent.
But, never had he seen a child who could learn this fast despite not being natural. Alan contemplated his options, and after thinking for a few minutes, Alan came to a decision.
He looked at Quinn and declared, "I would like to talk to your grandfather. Please, confirm if he is free to meet me right now."
Quinn's eyes shined as he wasted no time; he jumped off his stole and ran out of the room. It was ten minutes before Quinn returned to the room with a slight smile on his face, "Grandfather would like to see you know."
Alan nodded and stood up, ready to meet his client and see the future of his employment.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn paced outside his grandfather's study. He didn't know what they were talking about as he wasn't allowed inside, so he could only restlessly pace outside the study, waiting for the two adults to come to a conclusion.
Quinn had to wait for half an hour before he was asked to come inside the study. He entered the study quickly and saw them sitting in their respective chairs, waiting for him.
He quietly sat on the empty chair before his grandfather asked, "Quinn, Mr. Baddeley, and I have come to a decision."
Quinn gulped as he waited for his grandfather to continue. George stared at Quinn as he asked, "We have decided to extend Mr. Baddeley's contract, and he would be teaching you another aspect of occlumency."
Quinn stayed silent, he was calm on the outside, but inside he was burning with curiosity and excitement.
Alan turned to face Quinn and asked, "Mr. West, do you remember the basic aspects of occlumency?"
Quinn immediately responded with the answer, "There are three basic aspects of occlumency; defense, emotion, and efficiency. I am currently learning the aspect of defense."
Alan nodded and said, "As you heard, your grandfather and I have come to a decision that I would be teaching you another aspect of occlumency, but the choice of said aspect is yours, so tell us which aspect would you like to learn?"
Not a second had passed before Quinn blurted out his answer, "I would like to learn the aspect of efficiency."
George and Alan watched Quinn, but they didn't ask him why, instead George put out some conditions.
"Quinn, if you want to learn another aspect, you would have to complete your defense aspect training. I heard you refused to work on it today, so if you want to start learning another aspect, you need to complete the current task."
Quinn fought the urge to groan and resigned himself to the conditions, "I understand."
That day it was decided that Quinn would learn another aspect of occlumency.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Eight years old - Wants to learn something new.
Alan Baddeley - Teacher - Extended his contract before free agency.
George West - Grandfather - Has loads of money.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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After Alan extended his contract with the West family, Quinn spent another five weeks completing his second set of another detection layer and a thinner five-layer hexagon-based shield.
Quinn, who had painstakingly completed his last line of defense, looked at Alan with expectation clear on his face, "Now that I have completed my last line of defense, are we finally going to learn the aspect of efficiency?"??
Quinn couldn't conceal the excitement from his voice. Quinn clearly understood the importance of the defense of his mind against legilimency. He didn't want his emotions, thoughts, and memories to be leaked or spied upon by any outsider. But, Quinn couldn't help but want to move onward to learning the aspect of efficiency as he knew that this part of occlumency might support his other magic endeavors.
He impatiently waited for Alan's response, yet the reply wasn't the one Quinn was expecting.
Alan shook his head and explained, "We are not done with your defenses yet, Mr. West. There is still some work that needs to be accomplished before we proceed."
"What! But that is not what you promised. You said that this was the last step to completing my defenses," Quinn spoke with heat lacing his words.
Alan disagreed with Quinn and quipped, "Mr. West, I did say that this was the last step to building your defenses, but I never said that it would be the last task with regards to your defense. We still have to test your defense as a whole; to see if it works well as an integral system."
Quinn immediately cooled down hearing that. It was true, while he had completed building his defense, he hadn't tested if said defense worked against a legilimency attack. After all, what was the use of having a defense system if it didn't perform its task?
Quinn rubbed his temple, internally scolding himself for his impatience. His thirst for magic was making him impatient. Quinn stared at Alan and enquired, "So, how are we going to test if my mental defenses work?"
Alan smirked and replied, "The simple way, I am going to attack your defenses with legilimency of varying strengths and employ various techniques that we used while training your detection layer. Step-by-step, I am going to increase the level of my legilimency attacks, and on the way, we are going to examine the problems and try to fix them."
Quinn nodded in response as he saw no problem in this approach, as practically testing his defenses was the best possible method to test his progress.
"One more thing, Mr. West.", Alan spoke, gaining Quinn's attention as he declared, "During this period, I am going to be attacking your mind with the full intention of looking at your memories."
Quinn stiffened at that statement as he till now Alan had only gone as far as looking into his surface emotions and had never looked into his memories. Just the thought of Alan looking at his memories terrified Quinn.
"Please remember that whatever I see or discuss is protected by the contract I have signed. I am not allowed to speak or reveal any memory that I end up witnessing in your mind." Alan tried to assure Quinn, who he saw stiffen up at the mention of memories.
It took Quinn a while to calm down as he looked at Alan with determination in his eyes, "I am ready for it. Please do whatever is necessary."
Alan nodded and addressed, "Before we start, please tell me if you remember the difference between passive and active defense."
Quinn nodded and recited what he remembered about the asked topic, "Passive defense is when the occlumens is not aware that his mind is being attacked, and the occlumency defense that has been built defends against the attack without the occlumens knowledge. The shields are in a weaker state as the occlumens is not concentrating on fighting the attack and not focusing his magic on the shields.
While the active defense is the scenario when the occlumens is aware of the fact that his mind is being attacked and is actively trying to defend against the attack by providing magic to his shields, making them perform at their full capabilities."
Alan nodded, satisfied with the answer, "Yes, which is why the detection layer is essential as it would alert you about the presence of the legilimens, and you would be able to switch from passive to an active state.
I will be testing your active defense for now. For your passive defenses, I will test them randomly in the future when I am teaching you the aspect of efficiency, as you won't be aware of the timing of my attacks."
Seeing Quinn reply with a yes, Alan stated, "Alright, the moment your detection layer senses an attack, you must pull up your shields to their maximum capacity."
Quinn gulped and made eye contact with Alan, and the next moment he felt a hit on the detection layer, and the heaviness covered his mind.
The attack was on. Quinn immediately focused on his shields, and they thrummed into action.
Alan smiled as he spread his legilimency attack thinly and tried to sift through the shield, but Quinn immediately stiffened the paths Alan was using, trying to trap Alan and cutting off his attack.
Alan chuckled, "An interesting approach, Mr. West. Let's see how you deal with this."
Alan stopped trying to sift through his shield and began drilling through the layers of the shield. Quinn gritted his teeth and abandoned the first four layers of his shield as they had already been breached and shifted his focus to the last six, giving them extra power, but Alan drilled through them like a hot knife through butter.
Quinn cursed as he felt the second detection trigger, which meant that Alan was already past the primary ten-layer shield, and the only thing between Alan and his mind was the secondary five-layer shield.
He immediately put his all into the secondary shield and waited for the attack. For a couple seconds, Quinn felt nothing. Then he felt a sharp pain in his head as Alan slammed his legilimency into Quinn's secondary shield like a wrecking ball, immediately cracking the shield.
Alan easily slipped into the now unprotected mind. He found himself in Quinn's mind as he witnessed a few random pieces of memories. Alan saw some of Quinn's experiences during his time traveling.
He saw few glimpses of Quinn's piano and dance lessons, a few memories of Alan's own occlumency lessons. He also a weirdly large number of memories of Quinn staring at a rubber toy ball.
But, maybe because it was Quinn, who was desperate to hide his memories of him doing magic, or perhaps it was pure luck that in the short time Alan was inside Quinn's mind, Alan didn't see any memories of Quinn performing magic.
When Alan came out of Quinn's mind, Quinn's shoulder slumped as he placed a hand on his temple, trying to nurse the dull pain caused by the brutal cracking of the secondary shield. It took a couple of minutes for Quinn's shields to return to maximum integrity. This feature of occlumency was the one Quinn liked as it relieved him the most knowing that he won't have to consciously repair his shields by rebuilding those damned hexagons.
Quinn looked at Alan and asked, "What did you see?". He felt his heart threatening to beat itself out of his chest as he asked the question.
Alan described all the memories he had seen, and Quinn noted that there was no mention of him doing magic, and more importantly, 'There was no mention of my past life memories.'
Quinn felt his heartbeat calm down, but he didn't let just this one exchange be the proof of a theory that birthed in his mind. He needed another attack from Alan to cement his findings.
After a short break, Quinn once again defended against an attack from Alan, and again, failed to keep him out. But this time, it relieved him as when he asked Alan about the memories, there was no mention of his past life memories. There were a few mentions of Quinn performing magic, which Alan took as accidental magic, but no mention of otherworldly memories.
'Memories of my past life are somehow safe from legilimency,' Quinn thanked Gods, Merlin, Death, Fate, R.O.Bs, any higher divine being he could think of, as this was one enormous weight off his shoulders.
Quinn stared at Alan and asked, "Was that a novice legilimens' level of attack?". While Quinn was rejoicing that his biggest secret was safe, he was worried if his defenses couldn't handle a novice legilimens' attack.
Alan shook his head and revealed, "I wanted to see your current level, and I would say that my attack was at the level of a good intermediate legilimens."
Quinn exhaled hearing that, then he heard Alan speak up, "I must ask Mr. West, there have been an unusual amount of memories of you staring at objects. May I ask what is that all about?"
Quinn's eyes twitched. He knew it could take as little as another legilimency attack from Alan to rid him of his misunderstanding, that what he saw Quinn perform wasn't accidental magic but proper controlled magic.
Quinn stared at Alan for a while. He contemplated how to reply before deciding that if the secret is going to be out, then it would come out as he wished.
"Those were my attempts to use magic. I was trying to do magic without a wand.", Quinn said, setting up a conversation that he was going to control.
Alan laughed as he could understand Quinn's wish to do magic. Which magical child didn't want to use magic before turning eleven? It was a part of most magical children's childhood. "I see. From the number of memories, I must say that you truly love magic, don't you?"
Quinn nodded, to which Alan said, "Mr. West, magic without a wand or a better word focus is tough. It takes a lot of practice and skill to perform magic without a wand. This is why I love occlumency and legilimency. Even though only at a low level, both of these magic can be performed without a focus.
It is said that a few can use magic without a focus, and none have been truly able to be free from using focus to perform magic. Only the best and the wisest succeed to perform magic without a focus."
Quinn nodded, a smirk etching his face. Alan didn't notice the smirk as he was too busy staring at the jug of water that had suddenly floated from the table and was now pouring water into a glass. The glass then slid itself towards Quinn and stopped in front of him, who picked it and drank from the glass.
"It was tough, you know. It took a year of staring at various things trying to move them, but nothing worked. It was pure luck that I succeeded." The smirk on Quinn's face widened as he continued, "Mr. Baddeley, you said the best and the wisest succeed to perform magic without a focus; I will take that as a compliment. Thank you."
Alan D. Baddeley stared at the boy who sat in front of him. He had just seen something that he hadn't seen in his life, and he was over a hundred and fifty years old. A boy who was in the eighth year of his life had just performed magic without a focus.
"How?" was all he could say.
Quinn shrugged and spoke, "I have no idea. I don't know why magic responds to me as it does. Maybe one day I will know why, but currently, I am content just knowing that I can perform magic."
Alan was still trying to wrap his mind around the concept of an eight-year child performing controlled magic, but he wanted to know more, so he asked, "What kind of magic can you perform?"
Quinn revealed his capabilities to Alan as he was sure that Alan would with time, "I can perform spells from spells on a second-year level." He explained to Alan how he studied material from all around the world, which impressed Alan as he traveled the world to improve his craft.
"The absence of focus hampers my ability. I have read the third-year material, but I am just only stepping into practically performing third-year magic," Quinn sighed as he finished, "The progress has been slow."
Quinn looked at Alan and said, "Mr. Baddeley, you are the sole person on this world who knows that I can perform magic. Not even my grandfather and sister know I can do magic. And, the magical contract will keep it that way."
Alan nodded and leaned back into his chair. He remembered something and questioned, "Is your ability to do magic why you choose the aspect of efficiency?"
Quinn nodded and explained, "As I am reading material from various magical communities, it is becoming harder to keep track of things. I would like to improve my retention, and the aspect of efficiency would help me with that."
Alan nodded but informed, "Mr. West, you do know that even if you learn the aspect of efficiency, it will take at least a year before you could achieve noticeable gains."
Quinn nodded, "I am well aware of that face. As much as I would love to see immediate returns, I also know that if I put in the time, the return would be worthwhile and sweet."
Alan looked at his students and found that his image of Quinn had changed. At first, he thought Quinn was just a talented child, but a child nevertheless, but now he saw a boy with wisdom beyond his age.
Quinn also told Alan, "I would like if we don't talk about my magic during the lessons. I would like it if we spent all our time learning occlumency. You can satisfy your curiosity by the memories that you chance upon when in my head, but I will not be talking about it."
Alan nodded as he understood that talking about Quinn's ability would hinder the learning, so he agreed to not talk about the matter in the lessons.
After the discussion was closed, Quinn and Alan got back to testing Quinn's defenses, trying to improve them by practical experience.
It took another two months to solve all the kinks in Quinn's defense and gave Quinn crucial experience in the art of defending his mind. By the time they were done, Quinn could defend against a newly minted master level legilimens.
It took a whole nine months for Quinn to become an occlumens who could defend against a new master legilimens from having no defense at all. He could also defend against various forms of attacks, which was impressive as most legilimens only knew and used one or two methods.
Alan's experience and knowledge from around the world had given Quinn the knowledge of legilimency attacks from various magical communities. And, that had made Quinn's defenses might be the most adaptable in his age group.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Almost nine years old - Can now defend his mind.
Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Stunned by his latest student.
-*-*-*-*-*-
A/N - If Quinn comes out as whiny and not considering what is good for him by trying to rush along the occlumency shield process. It is because I am trying to make him not so Gary Stu. Quinn would have his faults.
He would still be better than us real people (we suck), but he wouldn't be the perfect child with magic abilities that would put Merlin to shame (while he is eight years old).
It would take some time for Quinn to become strong.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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For a change in scenery, Alan and Quinn sat in the garden canopy for their lesson. Quinn watched as Alan waved his hand and performed a spell. Quinn noticed Alan didn't have a wand in his hand.
So Quinn inquired, "Mr. Baddeley, it seems you can also do focusless magic. What spell did you just use?"??
Alan cocked his brow and shook his head, "You are mistaken, Mr. West. I have spent my life pursuing mind arts. The art of focusless magic is not my forte. I can only perform mind magic without a focus, and even that in a limited capacity. I am still in need of a focus to perform magic." He raised the hand that he had waved to cast the spell and pulled his sleeve to show a silver bracelet fitted with an opal gem in the middle.
"I use a gem-fitted bracelet as my focus." Quinn stared at the bracelet and thought back to his travels. Gem-fitted bracelets were the norm around the continent of Africa. He had seen African magicals use various metals and gems to craft bracelets. The process was the same as their wand counterpart.
Quinn removed his eyes from the bracelet and asked the older in the pair a question that plagued his thoughts, "Mr. Baddeley, how do you disarm a bracelet user. A Disarming Charm can strip wands off from their user, but what about a bracelet focus? How does one disarm a magical such as you who uses a bracelet?"
Alan traced his finger over his bracelet while replying, "Bracelet users also have their own version of Disarming Charm; but as you might think, the bracelet might not come out off from their owners' wrist.
So, the Disarming Charm for bracelets is a spell that would disrupt the connection between the owner and the focus, resulting in them not being able to cast magic. The spell's effectiveness not only depends on the caster's power and proficiency, but also on the target's abilities. A good bracelet user could counteract the spell's effect by reducing the time of disruption, if not totally dismissing the spell's influence.
And, let me be clear, we do not call this spell the Disarming Charm. The spell is just a counterpart to Disarming Charm for wand-type focuses."
Alan finished his explanation and finished by saying, "As for the spell, it was just a privacy ward for our lesson."
Quinn nodded and thought if, in the future, he would be able to recreate a spell that won't disarm a person but temporarily disrupt the connection between the target and the target's wand.
- (Scene Break) -
After the discussion, the pair returned to the occlumency lesson at hand. It was finally the time for Quinn to start with the efficiency aspect of occlumency.
Alan, with his usual smile on his face, started. "The efficiency aspect of occlumency is tremendously helpful to many people. A study done in Argentina showed that the efficiency aspect of occlumency is the most popular aspect among magicals around the country. And, people who know multiple aspects of occlumency are most proficient in the efficiency aspect. Magicals are more interested in the efficiency aspect than the defense aspects.
Many professions require in magical research are proficient in the efficiency aspect. It helps them keep memories for a longer time and stimulates their minds to process things quicker. Many people in legal practice also learn this aspect. This aspect is prominent in any line of work that might have a requirement of a fantastic memory."
He then pointed to himself and remarked, "As you might know, magicals live longer than our non-magical counterpart. With old age comes memory problems; I am over 150 years old. How much of my childhood and youth do you think I would remember if I wasn't an occlumency master.
But, because I am a master, I remember every single moment of my life. I can recall any moment of my life with a snap of my fingers. So, the aspect of efficiency is also popular with older people as it allows them to keep precious memories that they might forget with old age."
He then gave another example, "Your grandfather is an example of a master of efficiency aspect. He has a business empire to manage, so I am sure that as he worked on the business, he also worked on his occlumency."
Quinn thought about his grandfather and remarked, "My grandfather might be proficient in all three aspects."
Alan nodded and noted, "He has a defense. I confirmed that the moment we met." Quinn cut Alan and exclaimed, "You used legilimency on my grandfather on your first meeting?!"
The old master shrugged, "It is an occupational hazard. Can't seem to get rid of this habit." Alan smiled and didn't look like he wanted to get rid of this particular habit.
Quinn sighed and advised, "You might get in trouble, you know."
Alan scoffed in reply, "I am an old man who has been doing this long before your grandfather was even born. I can check out a person's defenses without getting caught." Quinn could feel the confidence and pride Alan held in his capabilities.
Young Quinn had no problem with it as Alan was in the right to feel that way. In Quinn's eyes, Alan D. Baddeley was a beast who was at the top of his field.
Alan finally began explaining how to get started with the aspect of efficiency, "One of the sub-aspects of the efficiency is memory. Let's first understand what is memory?"
Alan paused before continuing, "Memory is the ability to both preserve and recover information we have learned or experienced throughout our lives. As we all know, however, this is not a flawless process. Sometimes we forget or misremember things. Sometimes things are not perfectly stored in memory.
Memory problems can range from minor annoyances like forgetting where you left your glasses to diseases, like dementia, that affects the quality of life and the ability to function."
Alan waited for Quinn to note down everything before moving on, "To improve your memory, we have to find ways to retrieve our memories from our mind. Usually, stored memory lies outside of our awareness most of the time, except when we actually need to use it. The retrieval process allows us to bring stored memories into conscious awareness." He finished as he pointed at his temple.
"Now, to use the information that has been stored into memory, it first has to be retrieved. There are many factors that can influence how memories are retrieved, such as the type of information being used and the retrieval cues that are present.
Of course, this process is not always perfect. Have you ever felt like you had the answer to a question right at the tip of your tongue, but you could not quite remember it? This is an example of a perplexing memory retrieval problem known as the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon."
Quinn clearly understood the feel of having the answer on the tip-of-the-tongue but not being able to remember.
"You want to use memories, and your mind takes care of it by providing you information from your memories. But, can we do better? The answer is yes, we can do better. We can do much better. And, I will be teaching you how to get your memory better.
Do you know what a mindscape is?"
Quinn shook his head in reply, and Alan described, "The Mindspace is one of the most powerful memory techniques I know. It is building a space in your mind where you can organize and store your memories. You can strengthen the connection to your memories and improve your retention.
Non-magicals use a similar method known as Mind palace, but it is but a copy of mindscape. A mindscape is much more powerful. If developed properly, you can remember every single second of your life."
Alan leaned into this chair and revealed, "Sometimes, I just kick back and dive into my memories, reliving good times. I can do it because I can recall every single thing that I have experienced in my life." He looked straight into Quinn's eyes and said, "I can even remember what it was like to be in my mother's womb. A memory from before I was born."
Quinn's eyes widened in shock at hearing the revelation.
'What kind of work did he put in to remember that. Magic can really make impossible things seem possible.' Quinn once again felt that he had been underestimating magic.
Alan sat up straight and taught, "Let's talk about how to build a mindscape.
First and foremost, you will need to pick a place that you are very familiar with. The technique's effectiveness relies on your ability to mentally see and walk around in that place with ease. You should be able to 'be there' at will, using only your mind's eye.
Do you have a place like that?"
Quinn immediately turned to look at the West Manor before turning back to Alan. "I have been at the West Manor for most of my life. I can walk here with my eyes closed."
Alan nodded with a smile, "One's house is usually people's first choice. Remember that the more vividly you can visualize that place's details, the more effective your technique will be.
For the next lesson, I have some homework for you to do. I want you to roam your house and strengthen its picture in your eyes. I want you to remember every corner and corridor of your home. You don't have to memorize the layout of furniture in your house, only the paths, and structure."
Quinn nodded, and the lesson ended for the day.
From that day, Quinn roamed the halls of West Manor. Taking in every nook and cranny of his home. He reinforced the details of his home in his mind. He read Alan's book and saw what he needed to do to build a better mindscape.
He spent hours walking around, stopping at every door, and memorizing the door. Quinn opened every door in the manor and did it multiple times. He had Elliot (butler) give him the keys to every room in the manor. Quinn visited rooms that weren't being used and opened every door so that he could remember every room.
Quinn walked around the house early in the morning and in the night's cover. He walked with his hands brushing against the walls. He walked backward. Quinn tried writing what he saw, speak what he was seeing as he roamed the corridors of the West Manor.
He even had Elliot take him up in the air with a broom so that he could have a look at the manor from the sky above. He memorized the scenery of the entire premise of the property.
Quinn had to say it was fun to walk around the house. It felt that he was an explorer on an adventure. Finding things that he never knew were in his house.
- (Scene Break) -
In the next lesson, Alan began with Quinn build his mindscape. He had Quinn lie on a sofa and relax. "Mr. West, close your eyes, and focus on my voice." Quinn closed his eyes and focused on Alan's voice.
"Relax, Mr. West. Let your body relax. I want you to dive into your mind. Imagine a white space with nothing in it." Quinn didn't know if Alan was using any mind arts because he felt a strange appeal in his voice. It was a soothing, baritone voice that made Quinn relax his mind and body. He felt himself following Alan's instruction, and suddenly he blacked out.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a pure white space with nothing in sight. He couldn't see any end to this white space.
"Mr. West, can you hear me?" Quinn heard a voice but couldn't find the source of the voice.
"Mr. Baddeley, is that you?" Quinn looked around expecting to see Alan but found no one in the white except him.
Once again, Alan's voice entered his ears, "There is no need to look around, Mr. West. You are inside your mind, and I am talking to you from the outside."
Quinn sighed and spoke with a slight bitterness in his voice, "You bypassed my defenses without me even knowing. Ugh... I swear one day I will make sure that you can't enter my mind."
Laughter boomed around him as Alan spoke, "I am sure that you will keep me out of your mind, but that will be after I am dead. I ain't going to be defeated by a wee little boy."
The banter with his teacher had calmed Quinn. He felt comfortable in the seemingly infinite white space. "So, why are we here?"
Alan's voice came from everywhere and nowhere, "This white space is your undeveloped mindscape. As the first step of strengthening your memory, we are going to develop your mindscape."
Quinn gazed at the endless white space and spoke, "How are we going to develop this? There is nothing in here to develop."
"We are inside your mind, you can develop your mind any way you want. You are going to imagine the West Manor and give it shape in your mind," Alan's voice instructed. "I want you to start by imagining ground. Imagine grass and dirt spanning across your mindscape."
Quinn knelt on the white surface and placed his hands on the surface. He closed(?) his eyes inside his mindscape. "Visualize the feel of grass against your hands as you weave them through a patch of grass, the length of grass that you are familiar with. Imagine the scent of freshly cut grass. Think about the rustling grass makes. Underneath the grass, feel the ground on which the grass grows."
Quinn followed his mentor's instruction, and in a span of minutes, Quinn felt the texture of grass against his hands, heard the rustling of grass through his ears, and could breathe in the scent of grass.
"Mr. Baddeley, I-I can feel grass and ground," Quinn was thrilled by feeling grass and ground, which was not there before. His imagination was roused as he was dying to open his eyes, but Alan had said not to open them till he said so.
"Excellent, now slowly open your eyes to see the great expanse of green grass." Quinn opened his eyes and saw grasslands that stretched to the horizons.
The grass felt extremely real to all of Quinn's senses. The only thing that made the whole experience unrealistic was the white 'sky' above that caused strife in the scenery.
"The white sky is weird," Quinn complained to the old master monitoring him from the outside.
"We are going to take care of that. Look at the white nothingness and imagine the sky. The color of the blue sky, if you want clouds, add them to the sky. Imagine the type of clouds you want."
Quinn stared at the sky for another couple of minutes, and slowly the blue begin bleeding into the white sky. Then came the fluffy white clouds that actually moved in the sky.
Quinn looked at the horizon where blue and green met, and the whole scenery was perfect. No sense of strife or any unnatural feel to it. He took in the scene for a while before asking, "Ok, what is next?"
Alan instructed, "We just completed the base for your mindscape. Now, let's create the structure that will act as the access point between you and your memories.
Remember that your memories reside in your subconscious, and your mind provides them to you for use. The structure we will be building will expedite that process. A doorway to all your memories. A magic that will allow you to harness every single life experience you have.
As we talked about in the last lesson, we are going to use West Manor, your home, as your mindscape. Once again, visualize the West Manor and wish it to appear in front of you. Keep in mind that you have to visualize your home from all directions. I want it to be an exact replica of your home."
Quinn did what he was instructed. He visualized the West Manor, and it took him an hour to get a shoddy replica of the West Manor. Quinn's replica blurry and was missing components that lead to pitch-black blanks on the outside of the building. He wasn't even sure what was inside the Manor in front of him.
Quinn wasn't sure if he had followed Alan's instruction correctly.
Alan felt his student's emotion about the resulted replica and assured, "Mr. West, you don't need to worry. Your replica is extremely good for the first time."
Quinn frowned and snorted in disbelief, "You mean this blurry building with black blanks is an excellent result?" Alan's voice replied, "Yes, if building a mindscape was easy, then everyone would be walking with a perfect memory."
Quinn wanted to improve his mindscape, but Alan called out, "Mr. West, it is time to come out of your mind. We have accomplished our goals for today."
Quinn closed his eyes, and the next time he opened them, he was in the usual room, on the sofa with Alan sitting near him.
Quinn sat up with a groan and suddenly felt tired as he leaned back into the coach. Alan handed him a glass of water that he accepted. "Thank you."
Alan answered the reason behind Quinn's sudden fatigue, "It was your first time accessing your mindscape. Feeling tired is perfectly normal. It will get easier with each successive try."
Quinn downed the water in the glass and asked, "What comes next?"
Alan chuckled at his student's eagerness, "We are going to fix your replica till it becomes identical to the real thing. We are going to fix it bit by bit. Bringing definition to the building and filling the blanks in your replica."
Quinn nodded and immediately asked, "Can I do it on my own?" Thinking if he could improve his mindscape between lessons.
Alan laughed as he was expecting the question, "Yes, you absolutely can. I will teach you how to enter your mindscape at will."
Quinn nodded as he resolved himself to fix the replica West Manor by the next lesson.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - About to turn nine years old - Playing with Mindscape.
Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Can remember memories from his womb.
Elliot Dalton - Butler - Broom Driver
-*-*-*-*-*-
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For the next two weeks, Quinn spent more and more time around the West Manor, staring and etching the manor's exterior into his memory and implanting it into his mindscape. He spent three to four hours every day repairing the replica in his mindscape. Fixing the overall blurred appearance and filling in the blank spots in the building.
After a fortnight of working on the West Manor replica, it was ready, and Quinn could say with total confidence that his creation was identical to the original West Manor.??
Quinn walked around his mindscape admiring the work he had done, 'Structure looks stable, size is identical to the original, color is exquisite, heck it even looks brand new.' He crossed his arms and nodded in content. "I am good!"
"Yes-yes, you are good, Mr. West. Now, let's move on before your ego gets too big," Alan's voice reached Quinn's mind as he admired his mindscape. Alan had gotten used to Quinn putting an obscene amount of work outside and between lessons, so it did not surprise him when his student showed him the stable mind-replica of the West Manor.
"Mr. West, it is time to enter the next step to developing your mindscape. I want you to go to the front door of the building and open it." Quinn followed the instruction and walked to the door and opened it to encounter a jet-black nothingness.
The interior of his replica was hollow, with no sign of any interior. He ended up shutting the door close because of the sheer creepiness of the sight. "Merlin! There is nothing in there."
Alan's voice said, "Of course, there is nothing in there. We haven't worked on the interior. The exterior of the structure represents the stability of your connection to your memories. We could've started developing the interior after the first day of erecting the replica. But, I wanted you to have a solid doorway to your memories, so I made you work on the exterior to completion. Your mindscape will always be ready to be used at a moment's notice."
Quinn breathed out a sigh, readying himself for another long stretch of visualization and intent to breathe life into the hollow nothingness. "How are we going to build the inside? I assume it would be exponentially difficult than the outside."
"Your assumption is correct. Crafting the interior will be more difficult as all the corridors and paths lead to different rooms, and you need to build them such that you know every inch of the place. No nook or cranny must be missed or forgotten," Alan instructed in total seriousness.
Quinn rubbed his chin as he commented, "I guess it is fitting. To improve my memory, I will have to 'memorize' the layout of my home."
Alan laughed as he agreed, "It is quite simple, isn't it? To improve your memory, you must memorize."
Quinn nodded and clapped his hand as he closed his eyes, "Let's start, shall we?"
For the next few months, Quinn spent a lot of time in the hallways. Except for eating and sleeping, Quinn did everything in the hallways. He did it to make himself familiar with the interior house. The first thing in the morning Quinn would do was stare at the part of the house that was being currently developed in the replica. He would walk up and down small areas to commit themselves to memory.
Months passed, seasons changed, Quinn's birthday passed, he turned nine years old, and Quinn kept marching on. Little-by-little, building the interior of the house. Quinn felt like he was building a Lego model without Legos. The idea of a replica of the West Manor in his mindscape excited and motivated him onwards.
After six months, he had finally completed the interior of the house. But, don't be mistaken. While Quinn worked on his mindscape, his other studies didn't take a backseat.
- (Scene Break) -
Potion brewing and herbology was the newest addition to Quinn's schedule. Elliot Dalton, the west family butler, was teaching Quinn about potion brewing and herbology.
Elliot had set up a shed near the garden area of the West property. Quinn still remembered the first lesson he had attended with Elliot.
Inside the wooden shed, a workstation was set up with a blackboard hanging on the wall. Elliot stood near the blackboard and waved his wand, and a potion cauldron with the word potion appeared on the board.
"Mr. West, potion brewing is an amazing art of potion-making. Potions are mixtures that can be brewed to showcase a multitude of effects. Potions can be medicines, antidotes, solutions, poisons, enchantments, vaccinations, or cures.
Potion brewing is an art form of transforming magical ingredients into amazing potions. Potions bring out the magical properties of those ingredients. Potions can be said to be the ultimate transformation magic. Even transfiguration isn't as transformative as potion brewing, as transfiguration always go back to their original form after a specified time. Transfigured objects are of lower quality, but potions give you a product that is better than the input.
Potions have a distinct advantage over typical spell-type magic in that the Non-Magical could use them even, provided that they have the potion itself at their disposal. Certain magical effects can only be induced through the use of potions. Some potions duplicate the effects of spells and charms, but a few have effects impossible to achieve any other way.
Imagine the polyjuice potion that can transform you into another person. If you want to recreate the effects of the polyjuice potion, you would either need a metamorphmagus or need a master of body transfiguration who could skillfully transfigure their body to look like someone else.
And both options are incredibly rare. I think there is only one metamorphmagus in this country, and the body transfiguration master would need a detailed description of the person to crack the accuracy.
Finally, the Luck Potion, Felix Felicis, can't be recreated by any other form of magic." Elliot explained with patience.
He waved his wands, and the image on the board changed to a wand. "Now, wands aren't used much in potion brewing. By that, I am not saying that wands are not required. Some magical ingredients are needed to be activated by the use of some spells. For example, Salamander's blood needs a specific spell to get it usable in potion brewing."
Once again, the image on the board changed. Now it showed a wand-waving over a cauldron, knife, and vials. "The reason potioneers don't just enchant their equipment to brew on their own is that magical ingredients are volatile and very reactive. Magic from enchanted equipment can bleed into the ingredients and cause the potions to fail. Therefore, only limited enchanted equipment is used in potion brewing. Any pieces of equipment needed to prepare the ingredients need to be free from magic, so potioneers are viewed in high regard because of the work that needs to be put in for brewing positions."
Quinn nodded as he already knew about all of this from his previous reading of potion textbooks.
Elliot tapped the blackboard, and the words, 'equipment', and 'safety' appeared on the board, "Before we start any potion brewing, we need to learn about the equipment."
Elliot went along to explain the different types of cauldrons, knives, vials, various heat sources, and the thing that surprised Quinn was the addition of safety equipment. He had seen no mention or appearance of safety equipment in the novels or the movies.
"Young master, no matter what ingredient, you need to wear safety equipment. After all, Prevention is better than cure. Safety goggles and gloves are of the utmost importance. And, a coat is always helpful to prevent splashes that might ruin your clothes," the gentle butler explained with seriousness in his tone and expression.
Quinn nodded, completely agreeing with him. He didn't need or want unstable potion sludge messing with his body.
The picture on the board changed, and a knife appeared over a plant.
"Before and after every potion, we are going to do extensive research of the ingredients. Ingredients are the soul of potions, so we need to learn how different ingredients interact.
Magical plants and creature parts react differently according to the situation. If we cut them differently, they will behave accordingly. Heat is crucial as it stimulates the ingredients, and with multiple ingredients, it becomes necessary to study heat control. The number and timing of stirs dictate how the potion is going to turn out.
Young master, just memorizing the ingredients and process won't cut it. I am going to teach you how to build potions and understand the reasoning behind the recipes. Every step represents a transformation in the potion. Every step logically connects to another, so we can learn everything about a potion without speculating. It might seem complicated, but if we take it step-by-step, it is an interesting area of magic."
After that, Quinn and Elliot moved on to the garden. Elliot had created a space for growing a few potion ingredients. "While some herbs and plants need special care and can't be grown here at the Manor garden, but we can grow some in this garden."
From that day on, Quinn would learn about magical plants and magical creature ingredients two lessons a week, and one lesson was dedicated to brewing potions.
Also, every morning, Quinn would go to the garden to tend and monitor the growth of the herbs growing. They couldn't raise magical creatures, so Quinn studied creature ingredients that were already butchered and learned how to handle and prepare them. He couldn't use any magic in front of Elliot, so they left any use of the wand to Elliot, and he concentrated on other parts of brewing.
Quinn didn't attempt to improve or adjust any potion recipe by developing new techniques as Snape did under the moniker of the half-blood prince. Quinn had potion books from dozens of countries and was too busy learning about the same ingredient from the perspective of different magical communities. Even the recipe for the same potion differed in different countries.
Quinn was too occupied with the different recipes from various communities. As the saying went, "Don't fix something that isn't broken," so Quinn focused on what was already discovered and compiled different recipes to get a better recipe for every potion he learned to brew.
Elliot supported this method, as it made Quinn think about the recipe and ingredients that went into the potion. The only downside was that Elliot had to brush up on his knowledge and keep learning new things so that he could answer Quinn's doubts and questions.
It took anywhere from three weeks to a month for Quinn to learn a potion. It took such a long time as Quinn had to compile different recipes into one. Try to find the best recipe for the potions. Replace the missing ingredients that didn't grow in the area with the local ingredients. Experimenting to check if ingredients worked well with each other and didn't cause any negative reaction. Researching and trying out different preparation methods.
With each potion recipe, Quinn began compiling his version of recipes in a book. Each chapter represented a potion with all his insight and research recorded into it. It would take years before this book would become public knowledge.
The simple potion book would become one of Quinn's earliest and greatest works. A text that bought the knowledge from all around the world into one. The first of its kind in the magical world.
- (Scene Break) -
Six months.
It took Quinn six months to complete the mindscape replica. A magnificent building stood in Quinn's mindscape, and inside the building, the owner roamed the newly finished halls of the buildings. Every single detail, from wall paintings to the false ceiling, everything present here was a perfect copy of the original.
Quinn stepped out of the building and called out to Alan, "What's next?"
Alan cleared his throat, which was weird as they were communicating through their mind, "We are going to activate your mindscape and activate the gateway to your memories. So, close your eyes and focus on your intent to convert the replica into a gateway. Imagine that you want all your memories in there."
Quinn took a deep and imagined that all his memories were in that house. He focused all his will into the house, wanting for his imagination to come true. In a few seconds, Quinn's mindscape started shaking. Tremors caused the West Manor replica to shake.
Quinn started frowning as it was becoming difficult for him to keep up his concentration and was about to stop, but Alan's voice warned him, "You must keep it up, Mr. West. We are very close! You must endure. Endure!"
Quinn groaned as he endured the pressure on his mind and gritted his teeth to keep up his concentration. Quinn didn't know how much time had passed, but the tremors subsided.
Quinn let out a sigh of tiredness as he sat down in his mindscape. He looked up at the sky and called out, "Is it done?"
Alan's voice replied back, "Yes, you endured well. The replica of the West Manor is now acting as a gateway to your memories. The building in front of you will become your strongest asset. Of course, you would have to develop continuously."
Quinn nodded and asked, "Can I go inside?"
"Yes, please do. You are in for a surprise," Alan replied, and Quinn could hear a smirk in his voice.
Quinn frowned in apprehension and walked to the door. With a push, he opened the door, and his jaw dropped from the scene inside. Inside, he saw the entire house littered with books. The books were floating in the air, sticking out from the ceiling, protruding out from the walls, and sprawled on the floor. Books were everywhere; it was like an infestation.
"What in the world is all of this?!" Quinn exclaimed in shock.
Alan looked from the outside and saw the same thing as Quinn and hummed, "It seems like your memories have manifested in the form of books. Memories manifest differently with everybody."
Quinn quirked his head and asked, "What about you?"
"Mine manifested in the form of envelopes. I used to send one every day to my mother back home. I am assuming you have frequent contact with books, don't you? Nerd," Alan answered and teased at the end.
Quinn ignored the jab and asked, "Why are the books everywhere? It is chaos in here." To which Alan replied, "As I said, the house is the gateway, you just opened it, and memories came spilling out. Now it is your job to sort them for easy access. Go to one of the rooms and look inside."
Quinn followed the instruction and opened the room of the first room he found, and inside were multiple empty bookshelves arranged neatly in the room.
"Your memories will appear in these bookshelves when you properly store them. Take one of the books in your hands," came Alan's explanation.
Quinn stepped outside and pulled out one of the books from a wall. Immediately he was hit with a vision. In the vision, he saw a memory of himself watching a play with Lia. It was his first play, and Lia had taken him to watch it during her break.
When he came out of the vision of his memory, Quinn asked, "You weren't joking when you said that the books were memories."
"Mr. West, notice any changes in the book?" Alan pointed out to Quinn, who was still relishing the new experience.
Quinn looked down and found that the weightless book was just a tiny bit heavier, and one corner of the dull grey book had gained a splash of brown color.
"The book has gained some color and weight. What is this about it?" Quinn asked, and Alan revealed, "When your books gain a quarter of the color and corresponding weight, they would disappear from their place and appear in a bookshelf somewhere inside the house. You would know where that memory book is, so you could find it easily."
"How am I to return color to the memory books?"
"Immerse yourself in the memory, and the more you immerse yourself, the more color would it gain."
Quinn eyed the memory infestation and gulped, "I have to do this with every single book?"
The old master laughed, "Yes, my little student. Every. Single. Book." Followed by hysterical laughter.
Quinn knew he had a lot of work cut out for him. He gazed at the book in his hand and sighed, "Let's start with this one."
Quinn versus memory books was on. A long battle of attrition against himself.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Nine years old - In a war against himself.
Elliot Dalton - Butler/Potion Teacher - Enjoying teaching.
Alan D. Baddeley - Mind Arts Teacher - Being his usual joyous self.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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Books. Memories. Books. Memories.
For another five months, Quinn slaved away in his mindscape, sorting memories to bookshelves. It was an arduous project, as there were too many memory books. Even if Quinn managed to clean out an area, more would appear in the same area.??
Quinn had to sort through all the memories of his life. Viewing every memory that was presented to him as memory books. It was all not bad as Quinn's speed of sorting increased with time. From the first time, his current speed was twice as fast. But it was nothing when compared to the speed Alan had described to him.
"Mr. West, I have reached the level where my memories are sorted in real-time. The ongoing memory of me talking to you is already sorted. I don't have to sort them as you do. I have trained my mind and mindscape to sort them the moment I see them."
Plus, Quinn could only complete a quarter of the total immersion possible for a memory. Alan, on the other hand, was once again on another level.
"I achieve complete immersion for all my memories. I can recall the input from all my senses; Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. I can even recall what emotion and thoughts I had during the memory," Quinn had remembered the look Alan had given him as he had revealed, "Mr. West, I have sorted every memory of my life. Even the unpleasant ones, like the death of loved ones, fears, insecurities, and many more. I have relived those memories just so that I could sort them. You don't have to complete the immersion on those memories, but there will be times when you would chance upon those memories."
It was one of those rare times when Alan was serious, "I would suggest that you at least sort them with minimum immersion. Otherwise, they would remain outside your bookshelves, and believe me when I say it would cause problems in the long term. Emotions are powerful, Mr. West. Magic responds the most to emotions. It would be difficult, but I have confidence that you would be able to power through."
It was Quinn's first time hearing a somber side of the magic. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to relive not-so-pleasant memories. To feel the emotions at their height. What about experiences from which you had moved on in life, but you had to go back and relive them with a complete immersion and feel those heavy emotions?
In six months, Quinn went through all of his memories. Because he wasn't aiming for feeling emotions and only had quarter immersion, he didn't face major emotional problems. It did bother Quinn when he found memories of his transmigration and the subsequent days. Plus, the various times he had slipped into guilt, shame, and depression.
He was in one of the rooms, walking as he admired the full bookshelves. After he was satisfied, he closed his eyes and exited his mindscape. When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the familiar sofa in Alan and Quinn's room.
He sat up and looked at Alan, who was reading a book. Quinn knew that even though Alan looked like he was doing nothing just a moment ago, Alan was with him in his mindscape.
"So, what is next?" Quinn asked as he sat on his usual stool.
Alan removed his eyes from the book and answered, "We are done, Mr. West." Quinn was confused as he titled his head, "What do you mean, we are done?"
Alan closed his book and set it on the table, "I have taught you the basics of the aspect of efficiency. From here on out, you would have to carve out your own path."
Quinn frowned and questioned, "But, all I have done is sort my memories. There must be more to the aspect of efficiency."
Alan nodded and returned, "Do you feel any difference in your memory recall?"
To that, Quinn nodded without hesitation, "Yes, absolutely. It has become easier to recall things. My memorization speed might not have increased, but I am positive that I can retain things longer." Quinn knew that after sorting his memory, he could easily access them by entering his mindscape.
"Tell me, did you decide the bookshelves for the memory books?"
Quinn shook his head as whenever a memory book gained quarter immersion, it would disappear from his hands and insert itself into a bookshelf, and he would know which bookshelf it was, but he could never decide which bookshelf should the books go to.
"Now that you have sorted all of your memories. You have the option to arrange the memory books in the bookshelves of your choice. How you sort is up to you. How you arrange books in your mindscape is important, as you would know where the books are and could find them much faster than now. There is more information in the book that I have given you, reference sorting techniques from there, but do create something original. You would be the most comfortable with your own craft."
The book mentioned by Alan was; 'An Occlumens' Treasure Trove, Part 2'. The book was based around the efficiency aspect and was an extensive text made from the result of Alan's knowledge and experience.
Alan continued explaining, "After you have found a sorting scheme, learn how to dive into your Mindscape without detaching yourself from the real world," It was a valid point as Quinn had to close his eyes and focus so that he could enter his mindscape. Currently, he couldn't do anything in the actual world while he was in his mindscape, which was very inefficient. "There are many things that you could accomplish with both aspects that I have taught you, but it will be your decision what to learn, how to earn, and when to learn. I have given you the resources. Use them well."
Alan had gifted Quinn the third and final volume of 'An Occlumens' Treasure Trove' series, centered on the emotional aspect. According to Alan, after learning two aspects, Quinn had enough experience to get started on the third aspect without his guidance.
Quinn bit his lower lip, and Alan could see the wheels turning in his student's tiny head. He could guess what Quinn was thinking, but he silently waited for Quinn to speak.
Quinn made up his mind and asked, "I want you to teach me Legilimency." Alan smiled in his mind but just stared at Quinn, watching as his student fidgeted in nervousness, as he stayed silent, enjoying the moment.
Alan stayed silent for a couple of minutes before saying, "I will draft another contract extension with your grandfather. Of course, only if he agrees." Quinn nodded as if his grandfather refused; he wouldn't be able to learn anything from Alan.
"And, if your grandfather agrees, I would start after a break of three months. I want to relax." Quinn stilled for a moment but then nodded as he understood the need for a break. Alan had been visiting the West Manor for around twenty-one months.
"I understand. I would set up a meeting with my grandfather. You can discuss the details with him."
In the meeting, they decided Alan would teach Quinn the art of legilimency after a three-month break. He would visit thrice a week, one more than the previous twice per week arrangement. The new plan pleased Quinn more than anything.
It would be the evening after the day of the meeting that Alan would call Quinn into his study.
- (Study Break) -
Quinn sat in his grandfather's study. Quinn liked his grandfather's study. It was an elegant room, and with grandfather in his seat, it looked like he was in control of everything.
Quinn looked at his grandfather, who had a drink in his hand, and asked in French, "Why have you called me here, grandfather?"
George West swirled the drink in his hand as he asked, "Quinn, why do you want to learn Legilimency?"
Quinn stayed silent for a moment, thinking about why his grandfather would ask him the question, before replying, "Mr. Baddeley is a brilliant teacher. After learning from him for such a long time, I thought I can learn more from him. He is an extraordinarily rare case of dual natural talent in both Occlumency and Legilimency. Plus, he is a master of mind arts. As for why I want to learn legilimency? I want to be an excellent occlumens; then it would be wise for me to learn legilimency, so I know how legilmens approach their craft."
Quinn paused for a moment before adding in a slightly lower voice, "Plus, this is the only magic I can do right now." Occlumency and legilimency were the only magic that Quinn could do openly, but he couldn't tell anyone the truth, so he said it this way. He could brew potions whenever he wanted but had to call Elliot to prepare ingredients that needed wand-work.
The words gave George some clarity about Quinn's situation. He knew about his grandson's love for magic. In fact, Quinn had gone on another book shopping spree. He had bought books from the countries of the South American continent. So George had to commission another translation work for the new books.
George nodded and ended that line of questioning. A silence fell upon the pair. Quinn knew his grandfather was a man of few words in his personal life. So, it was up to Quinn to initiate the conversation.
"When is Lia coming back?" His sister had been out for work for a couple of weeks, and he had started to miss her.
George thought about it for a while and replied, "She would be back within a week. She has done a good job at the project in Italy." He had a smile on his face as she praised his granddaughter.
Lia had grown a lot in the time she had gotten involved in the family business. She traveled a lot and worked at different small family shops and businesses. Each time he would give her the task to make a positive and noticeable change. [A/N: Like in the Stagiaire arc of Shokugeki No Soma.]
Quinn nodded and looked forward to reuniting with his sister. Maybe this time they would go out to play and have.
- (Study Break) -
Lia had returned home within a week. After giving her a couple of days for rest, Quinn dragged her out of the house to play in the non-magical(muggle) world.
The West family had been progressive in nature, and that progressive nature extended towards the non-magical (muggle) world.
Quinn's great-grandfather had expanded the family business from Britain's magical community to the rest of the European-magical communities. Next, Quinn's grandfather, George West, had led another expansion to different continents. Quinn's father, Adam West, was the one to introduce the non-magical world to the family business. It was nothing radical or out-of-place; he only sold items that could be produced faster and cheaper with the help of magic. Adam West had drawn up yet another expansion for the family business, this time to the non-magical world.
But, he had met with an untimely death.
Quinn's grandfather had worked to make his son's plans come true. Alas, the old man had limited knowledge of the non-magical (muggle) world, so the progress was slow.
This is where Lia came in. She wanted to continue her father's legacy, so she would regularly visit the non-magical world and had become quite comfortable with the culture. George was sure that she could expand the family business to the non-magical (muggle) world.
Quinn West, the youngest child of the West Family, was like a fish in the water while in the non-magical (muggle) world. Much more so than Lia. He could remember the days when Lia would stare at things like a country bumpkin, but Quinn took in things like he had been among them his whole life.
Quinn had secretly helped Lia along the way. While he enjoyed the non-magical (muggle) world, his principal reason for visiting it so often was to lead Lia in a world unknown to her. He would direct her to places and subtly show her how things were done. Credit to Lia, she was a quick learner. She picked up things quickly and now could seamlessly pass as a non-magical.
Lia looked at her younger brother as they entered the non-magical (muggle) world with appropriate clothing both the siblings loved muggle clothes; they were distinct and comfortable.
Quinn thought about the question and answered, "Let's go see a movie." Lia nodded. Movies were always fun. When they reached the theater, Quinn glanced upon a poster and his eyes shined as he had found the movie they were about to watch.
He pulled Lia's hand and pointed at the poster. "I want to see that movie." Lia turned to look at the poster and spoke, "Die Hard?" Fortunately for Quinn, the poster didn't have guns on it and only a burning building, so Lia did not know the level of violence and foul language in the movie.
She cluelessly nodded and bought two tickets. The ticket checker, a teenager, most probably a part-timer, didn't even bat his eyes seeing Quinn enter the screening of Die Hard.
And as it was expected, Lia's jaw dropped when she the contents of the movie, and tried to leave with Quinn, but he gently curbed her attempts and chuckled, "Come on, Lia. Don't be a prude."
Lia, who wasn't able to make Quinn leave, sighed as she sat back down, and the siblings watched the movie as they munched on popcorn. After the movie, Lia glared at Quinn and declared, "I will be choosing the movies from now on."
Quinn just cheekily grinned and offered a peace offering, "Let's go shopping."
Lia's mood uplifted in a split-second and Quinn followed Lia on her search for pretty clothes. While Lia picked out clothes for herself, Quinn was too looking at clothes, but not with the intention of buying. He was looking at the stitching on the clothing. Quinn, one day would like to make clothes for himself. At least, making clothing of magical culture that was more comfortable. He also wanted to have more pockets in his clothes to enchant them with expansion charms. There was nothing better than doing it yourself.
While he was looking at clothes, Lia called him from behind. "Quinn, did you find something you like?" Quinn turned to face her and responded, "No, you find me something, I will pick from those."
Lia hummed and spoke, "Only if you help me out with my shopping." Quinn shrugged as he had nothing better to do. Lia tried many dresses as Quinn gave his reviews.
Lia, just like him, had jet-black hair and stone-grey eyes. She was charming, tall, and had excellent proportions with long legs. Even the employees in the store were actively helping her out with recommending dresses.
Somewhere along the line, Quinn too was roped into trying so many clothes. Lia and the store employees were not even listening to Quinn and just began handing him clothes to try out and treating him like a mannequin.
They spent an hour in that store and came out with a ton of clothes. Quinn glared at his sister and declared, "You totally went overboard!"
Lia giggled and said, "How about I treat you to Indian Food." [A/N: Indian food is like takeout in England.]
Quinn grumbled and nodded. "I also want Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream." Lia ruffled his hair and agreed, "Alright, whatever you want."
As they ate dinner, Quinn asked Lia about work. Lia indulged her little brother and talked. "I have been having problems with hiring people who have experiences with both worlds. I tried to get in contact with my school, but the number of people is still lacking. I need to find a lot more people to expand our plans."
She sighed and continued, "Plus, I need to find them quickly. The people I hire need to be trained before they could actually work productively."
Quinn looked at Lia and felt weird as he knew Britain had plenty of first-generation magicals (muggleborns) who went back to the non-magical world to find work as they couldn't find employment in the magical world. Muggleborns couldn't find work in the Diagon Alley, Carkitt Market, Horizont Alley, and a few could barely find jobs in Knockturn Alley, and that too didn't pay well.
The status of first-generation magicals (muggleborns) had been slowly deteriorating since Grindelwald's era, and Voldemort and his pureblood death eaters had made things much worse. Oppression against first-generation magicals (muggleborns) was at an all-time high.
But then it hit him that Lia hadn't spent time in England and had spent most of her time in France at Beauxbaton. And as she said, she was recruiting from Beauxbatons and the French magicals and might have missed Britain.
Lia noticed Quinn looking at her weirdly and questioned. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is the food not good?"
Quinn gulped down the food in his mouth and replied, "You can recruit from Britain, you know? First-generation magicals, or muggleborns as they call them here, can't get jobs here. Most of them go back to the non-magical world to find jobs."
George West didn't care about the birth status of his employees. He employed anyone eligible, but he couldn't recruit every first-generation magical (muggleborns), so the unemployment problem was still prevalent.
This fact also confused Quin; why hadn't his grandfather advised Lia upon this matter? Britain was a treasure trove of human resources in the form of first-generation magical (muggleborns).
The answer to it was simple, George West wanted to see how quick his granddaughter would arrive at the solution. Lia was a bit too much attached to Beauxbaton and France. To run a business that had spanned across multiple continents, she needed to see the whole wide world.
Lia was too engrossed in the new information that Quinn had provided her. She didn't think to ask him how did he know this. Which was good, as Quinn had no clue about the excuse he could have given.
After snapping out of her thought, Lia was so happy that she allowed Quinn to buy another serving of sticky toffee pudding with extra ice cream.
As he ate his second serving of dessert, Quinn thought. 'A good day indeed~.'
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Almost Ten years old - Likes Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Lia West - Elder Sister - Office Lady (OL) - Having problems with HR.
George West - Grandfather - Businessman, grooming his successor.
Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Can't talk, On vacation.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn looked at Alan, who was sitting in front of him.
They were sitting in their usual room. It was their first lesson after Alan's break. The old mind-arts teacher had his usual relaxed grin on his face, but there was something different about him.??
"You got tan." That was it. Alan had gotten a tan.
Alan's smile widened as he told what he had done on his vacation, "I spent an entire month near a beach. Fantastic Weather, relaxing atmosphere, and amazing people. I had the time of my life. Sun is good for a person my age."
They chatted about the things they did during the break. Quinn told Alan about his progress with his occlumency.
"I have increased my primary shield from ten layers to fifty layers. My secondary layer has also gone from five layers to twenty-five layers. I have also worked on my detection layer."
Alan gave him some tips, before deciding that they had done enough catching up and it was time to start learning.
"That was enough catching up. Let's start with our lessons. From now onwards, we will learn legilimency." Alan said before continuing. "Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. We know a person who practices this art as a Legilimens. The uneducated might call this mind-reading, but practitioners disdain the term as na?ve. And, legilimency isn't just restricted to navigation of the mind, but also affecting the same minds to an extraordinary extent."
Alan spread his arms and declared, "Mind-control, emotion-manipulation, body possession, hypnosis, and many other things. Legilimency is a mind-magic; magic that strives to better understand the workings of the mind. A beautiful magic that has been tainted. Tainted by uneducated people, who only think of it as a means to spy on other's thoughts. Legilimency can be used to help people.
Do you know the profession of Mind healer, Mr. West?"
Quinn nodded and answered the question. "A healer who specializes in mind-related problems and diseases. They heal people whose minds have been disturbed."
Alan nodded and shared, "Every Mind healer is a legilimens. They know the mind from a healing point-of-view. A noble profession that shows and proves that legilimency can be a virtuous branch of magic. Mind-healer brings their patients' minds to peace and helps them through the healing of the most intricate part of their being, their mind."
He pointed at himself and revealed, "Mr. West, I have made mistakes while pursuing the art of mind-magic, and many times have caused damage to my mind. I have taken steps that weren't correct and not a few times that has jeopardized my mental health. But every time, a mind-healer had been there to monitor my recovery and make sure that my mind didn't suffer permanent damage. I, who value my mind above all else, see mind healers in high regard."
Quinn could practically feel Alan's respect for mind healers and the art of legilimency. Which was cemented by what he said next, "Mr. West, I charge a lot for my services. I was bought up in a poor household, so I didn't have any luxuries, so I value money a lot and consider money to be one of the things a person needs to live a happy life. But, whenever I am asked to appear as a guest lecturer to share my knowledge of mind-arts at mind healer conventions, I don't charge a single piece of copper because I know that sharing my experience with them is the betterment of the magical art I love. It is my way of returning to the community that helped me become what I am today."
He looked straight into Alan's eyes and spoke, "So, before we start learning, I would like you to understand that legilimency is not just a magic of harm but also an art of healing. It could do as much good as it can harm. I hope you would understand what legilimency represents and that people don't understand the true essence of this magic."
Quinn's eyes were wide by the time Alan finished his passionate rant. "Mr. Baddeley, I understand what you are trying to convey, don't worry, I won't dishonor the art of legilimency. I understand that there are two sides to a coin.
Now, would you like some water?"
Alan silently nodded as Quinn poured him a glass of water with magic. The old teacher received the glass and gulped it down in one shot. He once again looked at Quinn and expressed. "I apologize Mr. West. I let my feelings overcome me there for a second. I am a bit too sensitive when it comes to mind-magic."
Quinn nodded with a smile, "I noticed. It just shows that you love what you do."
The tanned old man cleared his throat and decides to go back to his lecture, "Now, unlike occlumency, which requires you to work inside your own mind, legilimency requires you to work in the mind of others. Accessing your own mind is simple, as it is yours to command, but other's mind is foreign territory. So, the question that presents itself is how to reach out to someone else's mind? How does one open a path to someone's else mind knowing that the two people have no connection?"
Alan stared straight into Quinn's eyes, and Quinn felt the familiar heaviness from his detection layer. Quinn instinctively pulled up his shield to an active state.
"How does a legilimens accomplish this? How am I able to stretch my magic to your mind?" Alan said as he retrieved his legilimency probe.
Quinn thought about the question for a while before answering. "You once said that eyes are the gateway to the mind."
Alan nodded his head in agreement, "Correct, eyes are the easiest point of entry to the mind, but if you are proficient, you can access the mind without going through the eyes. And, beginners start by trying to access the mind via a person's eyes."
Alan pulled on his sleeve to reveal his bracelet. "The only reason I agreed to teach you legilimency is because of your unique capabilities." He pointed at his bracelet and continued, "Beginners need a magical focus to perform legilimency, but I wanted to see if you could perform focusless legilimency right of the bat."
Alan paused for a moment before remembering something,
"You know you are lucky that your grandfather didn't study legilimency. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to learn legilimency without arising suspicion."
Quinn's eyes widened like saucers as he slapped himself on his head, "Damn it!" Even though it had caused no problems and Alan had taken care of this problem, this could have turned into a big problem. If his grandfather had caught onto this fact, then Quinn wasn't sure how to explain things. And Alan couldn't tell the reason because of his contract.
Quinn massaged his temple as he thought, 'I have to be more careful in the future.' A sigh escaped him as he decided to triple-check his plans in the future. He looked at Alan and asked, "I assume that you already knew that my grandfather didn't know legilimency."
When Alan nodded, causing Quinn to sigh, "I am not going to ask you how you know that."
Alan shrugged and continued teaching. He instructed Quinn to follow his instruction, "Mr. West, I want you to look into my eyes and try to sense my mind. It will take some time, but you will be able to sense it in time. You know that there is a mind that you can access. You just need to believe that you can reach my mind through my eyes, and find a way to connect to it.
Now, please try it out."
Quinn nodded and stared into Alan's eyes while trying to sense anything through his mentor's eyes, but he couldn't find anything. He tried to spread his magic, get it closer to Alan, molded his magic in different ways, but nothing happened.
He continued to try, and somewhere along the way, Quinn started glaring at Alan, which made the older man joke, "Mr. West, you are trying to find my mind, not drill a hole through it."
If it had been any other time, Quinn would have laughed, but currently, he was concentrating, so Alan only got a grunt in response.
It was an hour, multiple attempts, and Alan's patient guidance before Quinn got a hit. He had changed his approach five times, and the fifth time was the charm as Quinn felt the presence of something that felt familiar to his own mind.
Quinn, who was concentrating on Alan's eyes, focused on his whole face before speaking a bit too loudly in exclamation, "I felt something! Was that your mind?"
Alan smiled as he nodded, "I felt your probe. It was weak, but an excellent result for your first time. And yes, that was the edge of my mind that you sensed."
Quinn breathed out a sigh of relief. He looked at Alan and then frowned. "Mr. Baddeley, did you blink because I can't remember you blinking?"
Alan chuckled and shook his head, "I used magic to keep my eyes moist. A handy spell I learned to teach legilimency." Alan quirked his eyebrows and displayed a proud look on his face.
For the rest of the lesson, they repeated the process so that Quinn could get used to it. That was the end of the first legilimency lesson.
- (Scene Break) -
It turned out that the decision of increasing the frequency of lessons from twice a week to thrice a week was a good one as, unlike occlumency, legilimency was tough to practice alone. Quinn couldn't practice legilimency on anyone in the house and could only wait for the next lesson. The only thing he could do was read the theory, and that too was restricted by Alan, who had spelled the legilimency book so that he could read what they were going to learn in the next lesson.
For the next two weeks, Quinn trained with Alan to strengthen his legilimency probe, so that he could dive deeper and faster into others' minds. Lesson-after-lesson was dedicated to improving Quinn's legilimency. The result of the two weeks was that Quinn had gone from feeling the presence of a mind to finally finding the mind.
The first time Quinn had chanced upon Alan's mind was surreal. It was a mental-sight that awed Quinn. Quinn had looked into Alan's eyes, and the next second, his mental sense showed him Alan's occlumency defense.
All he saw was the color blood-red, a blood-red semi-liquid sea as occlumency defense that covered Alan's mind. Quinn noticed how at equal intervals, there would be slight disturbances in the sea of blood-red, and the semi-liquid would move in concentric circles, just like when you touch water, and it creates circle waves. Quinn wondered if Alan was using those disturbances as sonar used sound waves.
Quinn didn't dare approach the blood-red sea, as he didn't know what would happen if he made contact with Alan's defense. An occlumens at the level would have some counter-offense tactics built into his defense.
"How is it, Mr. West?" He heard Alan's voice in his mind. Alan had gotten used to listening to Alan speak directly to his mind, which was disturbing as it meant he had bypassed his defenses and was inside his mind.
Quinn took a moment to gather his thoughts and then spoke, "I feel fear when I look at your defenses." Even though Quinn hadn't touched Alan's shield, it still scared him.
Alan chuckled and revealed, "You feel fear because it is a feature of my defenses. It induces fear in the attacker. I am using legilimency as part of my occlumency defense."
As Alan finished speaking, Quinn found he was no longer feeling fearful and he was feeling normal. "Did you just remove the fear inducer feature?" He got a hum in response.
Quinn continued to observe the blood-red sea and asked, "Is this blood-red semi-liquid your detection layer?" Quinn's own detection layer was translucent in color.
"I don't have a separate detection layer and shields. A separate detection layer and shields is a basic level technique. My defenses are from a much-advanced system. Someday, you too would move on from your current system. And, the blood-red sea isn't even my first line of defense," was Alan's response.
Quinn frowned as he asked, "But, I encountered nothing else." The blood-red sea was the first thing he saw. Quinn was sure he would've noticed something else.
"You didn't notice anything else because I removed my first layer of defense. If my first layer had been active, you would be lost in my defense."
Suddenly, Quinn saw a fog appear around him, but it kept at a distance from him.
"This is my first line of defense. If you had encountered this fog, you would have been lost in it. I designed this fog to confuse the attacker's probe. You wouldn't find the blood-red sea if you encountered the fog. It would have caused you to wander inside itself until you gave up. Mr. West, my defenses incorporates all three occlumency aspects and many of the legilimency aspects. It is an intricate system of multiple parts that work in harmony," said Alan with pride in his voice.
Quinn wondered how much time would it take to reach this level? He wondered if he could ever reach Alan's current level. Unlike Alan, Quinn wasn't aiming to become a mind-arts specialist, and that would divide his time between many fields, so it made him wonder when in his life would Quinn reach Alan's level.
Quinn decided to end his legilimency probe, and when he did, Quinn couldn't help but ask, "How long did it take you to build your defense."
The answer Quinn got showed why Alan was one of the world's best mind-arts specialists. His answer was, "From the day I started learning mind-arts to this very day. It took me this much time to build my defense." He smiled softly before continuing, "I never stopped improving my defenses. It has been decades since someone had broken into my mind, but I still haven't stopped working on it. Mr. West, even I don't know what would it take to break into my mind."
Alan paused before saying something that would stay with Quinn for the rest of his life, "In the past, I always wonder if those powerful ancient magicals could break into my mind if they were alive." Then his eyes glowed with confidence, and he declared, "But, then I concluded that no one could break into my mind, not even those ancient magicals. Do you know why I think that? People always believe that the golden age of magic has passed, that we could never reach the level of ancient magicals like Merlin and Solomon."
Alan scoffed with pure pride as he continued, "I don't believe that the golden age of magic has passed. I am confident that even if the mages who became so powerful that they become gods to non-magicals, they won't be able to break into my mind."
Then he declared,
"I am the golden age of mind-arts."
Quinn felt goosebumps on his skin at the last sentence. Quinn could see that Alan considered himself the best mind-art master that ever lived. Listening to him changed something in Quinn's mindset.
Somewhere in his heart, Quinn thought he could never match the likes of Merlin, mages-turned-gods, Hogwarts founders, or any ancient magical people who reached such a level of magic that we turned them into legends. Just before he was wondering if he could ever surpass Alan in the field of mind-arts. But, listening to Alan made him wondered, why can't he surpass those ancient magicals? Why can't he reach a level where people would turn him into a legend? What is stopping him? Both them and he had the same magic, so he should be able to reach their level.
In his excited state, Quinn looked at Alan and made a declaration of his own.
"I will become the greatest magical that ever lived! I will surpass everyone that came before me and will set myself so high-and-above that no one after me will ever catch up to me."
Alan hearing that let out the loudest laughter Quinn had listened from his old teacher. "Yes, that is the spirit! Aim high and achieve the greatest goal possible."
Both teacher and student laughed loudly. If Alan hadn't warded the room to be soundproof, the other people would definitely wonder what was going inside.
Quinn looked at Alan and challenged, "I will become the greatest, so I will also surpass you in mind-arts. One day, I will break into that mind of yours, and build a defense so strong that you won't be able to break into my mind. So, be ready for that day."
Alan grinned a smile that split his face, "Ha! I will wait for the day you challenge me, brat. You are still wet behind your ears. I guarantee that no one much less than you would be able to break into my mind."
After that day, Quinn continued to learn legilimency with Alan, potions with Elliot, and his own secret magic studies with a renewed and increased vigor caused by a higher goal and belief that he could achieve his aim.
Almost a year later, came July of 1990, and arrived the time for Quinn to enter the next phase of his life. In the first week of July of 1990. Two letters arrived at the West Manor.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Ten years old - Wants to be the greatest magical that ever lived.
Alan D. Baddeley - Mind-Art Specialist - Considers himself the G.O.A.T in the field of Mind-Arts
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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It was another usual morning in the West Manor, and Quinn came down from his room to the dining hall to have breakfast. He hummed as he walked into the hall but was surprised when he saw quite a few people in the room.
His grandfather, George West, Quinn's sister, Lia West, butler, Elliot Dalton, and his caretaker, Ms. Rosey, were all in the dining hall. It was an unusual sight, as Quinn's grandfather and Lia had their breakfast before Quinn even woke up in the morning, and Quinn ate the first meal of the day alone, with either of Elliot, Ms. Rosey, or Polly, the house-elf giving him company.??
So, this sight that was out of the norm in the West Manor surprised Quinn. His first course of action was to check the time. Quinn looked at the clock in the dining hall while saying, "Did I wake up early or something?"
But that was not the case, as Quinn was following his daily timings, and neither Lia nor George should be at the house and should be out for work.
He walked to the table with a curious gaze, wondering the reason behind this anomaly, but his curious gaze turned into one of suspicion as he noticed that all the people in the hall were staring at him.
His first thought was that of a minor scare as he turned to Ms. Rosey and desperately tried to assure her, "Ms. Rosey, I properly brushed my teeth, properly took a bath, and combed my hair. I promise!"
Ms. Rosey had grilled Quinn about the importance of proper appearance, and Quinn, on multiple occasions, had failed to stand up to those expectations because he was too busy thinking/daydreaming about magic. The result of failing to comply with the standards set by Ms. Rosey were long dreadful lectures from her. And because of his experiences with Ms. Rosey and her lectures, Quinn wanted to avoid those.
His suspicion got stronger when he saw Ms. Rosey smile. His caretaker smiled a little. She smiled when Quinn performed well, but currently, he was sure that he had done nothing of note that would make her smile. Plus, Lia was giggling in the corner.
George decided to free Quinn of his suspicion and said, "Quinn, today we received two letters addressed to you." Saying that he placed two letter-envelopes in front of him.
The left-side envelope was made from thick beige stationery, and the one on the right was made from very royal blue stationery of similar thickness. Written on the envelopes was the address of the West Manor.
[
Mr. Q. West.
West Manor, West Estate,
Herefordshire,
West Midlands.
]
The beige letter had the address written in English, while the blue letter was in French.
Quinn noticed there was no sender's name on the envelopes, but when Quinn turned the beige envelope, he was the Hogwarts' logo on the lip of the envelope and a Hogwarts' logo-shaped wax seal sealing the envelope.
His eyes widened as he turned to the royal blue envelope, and similarly, it too had a printed logo and wax seal. But this time, they were of the Beauxbaton design that Quinn had seen on Lia's stuff.
"T-this... this!" A stunned Quinn said as he looked up at his grandfather, "A-are these...?"
George West nodded with a smile gracing his face, "Acceptance letters from each Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic."
George pointed at the Hogwarts' letter and said, "Since you have been living in Britain, Hogwarts sent you an acceptance letter." He pointed at Beauxbatons' latter and stated, "Beauxbatons sent you the letter because of pedigree. Your grandmother, father, and Lia all went to Beauxbatons. Family members get invitations even if they don't reside in the area where Beauxbatons recruit from. It is up to you where do you want to attend."
Quinn didn't open the letters but looked at George and Lia. George had attended Hogwarts while Lia had attended Beauxbaton, so he had people from both schools, and he knew that both of them would want him to go to their school.
Quinn breathed out and looked at all the people and said, "I will think about it." He looked at Ms. Rosey and asked, "Ms. Rosey, please send me my breakfast to my room. Please, excuse me." Quinn collected both of his letters and walked out of the dining hall before Ms. Rosey could stop him.
George looked at Mr. Rosey and stopped her from calling out to Quinn, "Let him go. He needs to think about it. Please, have Polly send food to his room."
George gazed at the entrance of the dining hall from where Quinn had exited the room. He wondered what would be his grandson's choice.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn always thought the day he got the acceptance letters from a school would be a happy one. He would be delighted, and it would be time for celebration. But currently, he was feeling down. He was in his room sighing.
When he realized the letters were acceptance letters, his first thought was how he would have to leave his home and stay at a dorm for a major portion of the year. Well, actually, his first thought was how his letters didn't mention the specific room as they did in Harry Potter's letter. He isolated the reason and concluded that it must be because of the wards present around the estate. The wards around the estate didn't allow Hogwarts' magic to find the interior of the West Manor.
But then it hit him. He would have to leave the comfort of his home. The home he had lived in since he had come to this world. He thought how his lessons with Mr. Baddeley would come to an end. How he would no longer be able to maintain the herb garden with Uncle Elliot and their potion lessons would also stop. Even the thought of freedom from Ms. Rosey's tough lessons saddened him. He had a lot of things that he liked in this house, and all of them would end when he left for school.
Even his usual secret magic studies would come to an end, and even though he would be able to do magic in public, it would still take time to get used to a new place. He would need to find a secure place to practice his magic. His worries and vigilance wouldn't ease up because now there would be so many people nearby him at a school full of magical children. One mistake, and the entire school could potentially know things he didn't want them to know about.
Except for the time he had spent traveling, Quinn had spent every day of his new life in this place. The thought of leaving this place, which had become important enough for him to base his mindscape, was an unpleasant one. He wouldn't be able to meet his family for most of the year.
While feeling down, and thinking about the future, Quinn absentmindedly opened his letters. He used magic to safely undo the wax seal without damaging the envelope. The wax seal detached itself from the envelope but stayed on the lip of the envelope.
He gently removed the letter from the envelope and unfolded the two yellowish-beige parchment papers. Just as it in the series, Quinn's letter read.
[
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. West,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
The term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
]
He put aside the first page of the acceptance letter, and on the second page was the list of books and equipment. A smile appeared on his face as he read the list of books.
[
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
--
UNIFORM
--
First-year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear.
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar).
4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings).
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
--
COURSE BOOKS
--
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) - by Miranda Goshawk.
A History of Magic - by Bathilda Bagshot.
Magical Theory - by Adalbert Waffling.
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration - by Emeric Switch.
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi - by Phyllida Spore.
Magical Drafts and Potions - by Arsenius Jigger.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - by Newt Scamander.
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection - by Quentin Trimble.
--
OTHER EQUIPMENT
--
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2).
1 set glass or crystal vials.
1 telescope.
1 set brass scales.
Students may also bring if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS
ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK.
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Thomsonicle-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions
]
Quinn had already read all the books from the list. The amount he had learned with the first-year focus and power was much more than what a single school and curriculum taught. Even though many magical communities had joined together to form the International Confederation Of Wizards, they were still pretty xenophobic in nature and isolated from each other.
He could do more things with limited focus and power that any student could imagine doing with the same amount of magical capabilities. Quinn could say that buying books from different cultures and communities was his best decision in both of his lives.
He carefully casted a stasis charm on both pages and the envelope before packing the letter back into the envelope. It didn't matter what school he committed to; Quinn was going to frame the acceptance letter of that school.
Quinn opened Beauxbatons' acceptance letter, and inside were two pale-blue parchment papers. He unfolded the letter, and Beauxbatons' content more pronounced than Hogwarts'.
[
L'ACADéMIE DE MAGIE DE BEAUXBATONS
Directrice Mme Olympe Maxime
(Education Magique, Ministere de la Magic, Cooperation Internationale, Ordre du Flamel, La Victoire.)
1 July 1990
Cher Monsieur West,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a seat at Beauxbatons Academy Of Magic, "Where Magic Meets Magnificence."
At Beauxbatons Academy, people of an unimaginable nature attend to learn more about their gifts. As well as improving our magic, we learn etiquette, poise, and more.
Look to the back to find enclosed a list of supplies and equipment needed.
The term begins on 1 September. We await your response by no later than 31 July. On reception of your reply, we would book you a portkey for travel at the Ministry Of Magic.
Further details would be provided based on your response.
Au revoir,
Madame Rochelle,
Directrice Adjointe.
]
Quinn nodded as he read the letter, and it certainly had a better first impression than Hogwarts' letter. Even Beauxbatons' equipment list was extensive than Hogwarts' and asked for things like dancing shoes and formal robes.
Quinn repeated the same process of placing stasis charms on parchment papers and the envelope before repacking the letter. He left the letters on his study table and walked to the bed to lie upon it.
He stared at the ceiling in thought. Choosing between two schools was an important decision. He was going to give the next seven years of his life to one of these schools. Quinn wanted to make sure that his decision was the correct one.
As he was pondering on his upcoming decision, Quinn heard a pop; when he turned his head to look, Polly, the house-elf, was standing there with food.
Quinn smiled and spoke to the long-time resident of the West Manor, "Thank you, Polly. Please leave the food on the bedside table. I will eat it shortly."
Polly complied, and before leaving, insisted that he ate his food soon before it cools down, but he knew Polly had already charmed the food to stay warm.
It was not before lunchtime when Quinn came out of his room. He straight went to his grandfather's study to talk. When he entered the study, George West was working on something, but when he saw Quinn enter, he put aside his work and gave all of his attention to his grandson.
Quinn was the first one to speak, "I have looked at both of the letters. I read the equipment and book lists. It is an important decision for me; I would like to have some time before giving you an answer. I will tell you my decision after a week of thinking."
George nodded and spoke, "Take your time."
Quinn sighed before asking, "Can you tell me your experience when you studied at Hogwarts?"
George leaned back, and a small smile of nostalgia surfaced on his face. "My time in Hogwarts was a joyous one. I made lifelong friends, built connections to different people, and grew as a person. I was in the Slytherin house. You see, there is a house system in Hogwarts..."
George went on to explain the house system in Hogwarts. Quinn said nothing and silently listened as he had never talked about Hogwarts with his grandfather, so there was no way he would know anything about Hogwarts. Plus, he was enjoying seeing his grandfather smile and recall his childhood.
George also told him about the castle and its mysterious nature, "Your grandmother went to Beauxbatons, so we told each other our school stories, and if there is one thing that Beauxbatons would never beat Hogwarts is the castle. It is mystical in nature, and if you take time to explore the castle, you would definitely have a magical experience."
George told him stories about the castle and his experiences of being a Prefect and the Head Boy. They continued to talk till lunchtime.
That week Quinn also sought out Lia to know about her experience at Beauxbatons. Beauxbatons sounded like an amazing and unique place to study. She told him about Flamel's annual lecture Beauxbatons hosted. She also explained how Beauxbatons had a diverse and large alumni base, and the academy made significant efforts to keep in contact with their alumni. It sounded like a traditional alumni base present in non-magical colleges.
- (Scene Break) -
The promised week passes, and Quinn had made his decision. At supper, Quinn told his family which school he was going to commit to.
Like a certain basketball player, he announced,
"In this fall... it was a very tough decision. In this fall, I am going to take my talents to Scotland and join the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry."
Lia looked at her younger brother and asked, "Hogwarts, are you sure?"
Quinn nodded, "Yes, Hogwarts."
"Why?"
Quinn grinned and spoke, "I talked to both you and grandfather. I felt attracted to Hogwarts more than Beauxbatons." He quirked his eyebrow and teased, "Grandfather sold me on Hogwarts, certainly better than you trying to sell me on Beauxbatons. You still have a long way to go, sister."
"You little!" Lia reached over and pinched his cheeks, which he avoided, and stuck out his tongue.
"Quinn, are you sure?" asked George, halting the interaction between the siblings.
Quinn turned to look at his grandfather and retrieved an envelope, and handed it to his grandfather. "Yes, I have made my decision, and it is Hogwarts." The letter in George's hand was Quinn's response to Hogwarts' acceptance letter informing them he will be attending their school.
Quinn's future knowledge heavily influenced his decision. The sole existence of the Room Of Requirements was a crucial factor in his decision. He didn't know if Beauxbatons had a similar room, and even if there was, there was no guarantee he could find it. And, his grandfather had said that Hogwarts castle was a mystical place, and maybe he could find things not shown in the series.
Even though he hadn't extensively thought about the future of Voldemort, death eaters, and the upcoming war. It did factor in when he thought about the school he wanted to go to.
It was the dilemma if you went back into the past and could stop 9/11 or if you could kill Hitler when he was a baby, or stop any major terrorist incidents where lives were lost.
Quinn decided that even though he didn't want to interact with the golden boy as it would attract a lot of unnecessary problems and attention, he would still do his part in secret to prevent lives from being lost.
The next morning, George sent out the letter written by Quinn to Hogwarts via an owl and another letter to Beauxbatons informing that he wasn't going to attend there, and that solidified his decision.
Quinn West was going to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Sorry, couldn't help but include the letter in the chapter. It is my first Harry Potter fanfiction, and I wanted the letter to be a part of it.
Quinn West - MC - Finally ELEVEN years old (DOB - July 10, 1979) - Would be attending Hogwarts.
George West - Grandfather - Attended Hogwarts (Head Boy)
Lia West - Elder Sister - Attended Beauxbatons, failed to convince Quinn.
Ms. Rosey - Caretaker - Strict, yet loving.
Polly - House Elf - Takes care of the West Manor and its residents.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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Quinn and Alan walked in the gardens of the West manor. It was their last lesson, and both decided that a casual stroll would be the best way to end their correspondence.
Alan had his hands behind his back as he walked with his student of almost three years. "Sometimes I forget you still a little brat. I had completely forgotten that you too would need to attend a school."??
Quinn scoffed and retorted, "I will take that as a compliment. So young, yet so talented. Live with it, old man. The younger generation would always surpass the older one."
Alan chuckled but chose not to reply. He knew that if they started, both of them could go back and forth for hours, and even then, none of the two would concede defeat. Instead, he decided to enquire Quinn's future plans regarding mind-arts.
"Do you plan to improve your mind-arts in the future? What are your plans for the future?"
Quinn looked up at his teacher while replying, "The mind, body, and soul. The three most important things for a magical. Magic is connected to all three facets of a being. So it would be without saying that I would continue to develop my mind. There is no harm in developing my mind. It would help me improve my magic and life in general."
Alan nodded and probed, "And, how are you going to improve them?"
"Well, I would be in a place full of people, so training Legilimency wouldn't be a problem. Even though most of them won't have any defenses, I can still train other aspects of legilimency," answered Quinn, explaining his plans to exploit his fellow schoolmates.
Alan didn't comment on the blatant admission of the intended invasion of privacy of dozens of people, "You can train your legilimency with the method I taught you."
Alan had suggested to Quinn a method using which he would be able to train his legilimency alone without requiring a person as a target.
"Ah, yes. Using occlumency to train legilimency. I need to build a small shield system inside my mindscape and then remove the memory of anything related to the new shield and lock those memories underneath the shield system. This way, I won't know how to penetrate that shield and would be able to practice breaking occlumency defenses using legilimency." Quinn recited the method suggested by Alan. He also snapped his fingers and added, "I just need to find new ideas for occlumency defenses so that I could create new scenarios for me to go against. This way, not only my legilimency improve, but even my occlumency skill would also improve. A perpetual cycle of improvement."
Alan nodded in agreement but also asked, "And, what are the warnings that I gave you?"
This method did have a drawback that could harm the mind if used carelessly. "Never isolate a memory for a long period. Willful repressing of memory would always cause problems."
Alan patted Quinn on his back, "Correct, all you need to do is free the memory from its repression for a small period before you could once again suppress it. So, don't be lazy and follow proper procedure."
"Aye," saluted Quinn. He kicked a small pebble in his path and asked, "What about you? What are you going to do next? What is in the future for Mr. Alan D. Baddeley?"
Alan shrugged in response to the question, "I have no idea. There are some jobs lined up that I could take, or I could take another vacation and relax, or I maybe I would write a few research papers for publication. Ah well, I would follow where life takes me."
Both student and teacher fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to walk around the garden before Quinn spoke his thoughts, "You know, I wanted to learn more from you. Your lessons are so fun, and now they are going to end."
Without looking at Quinn, Alan offered, "You can come apprentice under me when you pass out of school."
Quinn turned up to look at Alan with surprised etched on his face, his eye wide, brows pulled up, "I didn't know you offered apprenticeships."
"Indeed, I don't offer apprenticeships. I stopped offering them when I turned hundred years old, but you are interesting enough for me to offer one. Plus, I am interested in how much you could improve. It would be fun to compare the progress from now, to let's say when you turn into an adult." Alan's time with Quinn had shown him Quinn's potential, and it would be worthwhile of Alans' time to teach Quinn at a higher level.
Quinn, without even thinking about the offer, accepted, "I would be honored to apprentice under someone of your caliber. I would come to find you when I think the time is right, so don't die before I do that, old man."
Alan chuckled and retorted, "You better keep on improving because if I find that you have slacked off, I will definitely kick you out before we even start."
"I will keep that in mind," laughed Quinn even though he knew Alan wasn't joking.
Alan fished out a pocket watch from his clothes and spoke after checking the time. "It looks like it is the time for me to leave."
Both of them walked to the floo-connected fireplace, and before leaving, they said goodbye. Quinn raised his hand for a handshake. "It was fun learning from you, Mr. Alan," said Quinn and used Alan's first name for the very first time.
Alan showed a similar smile and shook his student's hands, "It was nice teaching you, Mr. Quinn."
With that, Alan left the West Manor in a flash of green fire from the floo.
- (Scene Break) -
On the first of August, Quinn and George went out to Diagon Alley to get all the stuff needed for the upcoming school year. It was going to be Quinn's first time coming to Diagon Alley. It surprised that Quinn had never gone to Diagon Alley. He never needed to go shopping as he just needed to tell Elliot, and he would get stuff for him.
When Quinn thought of that, his first reaction was, "Holy Crap! I am a sheltered child! Maybe even a little spoiled." But Quinn managed to convince himself that he wasn't a sheltered child, as he frequently visited the non-magical world with Lia.
Diagon alley was just as it had been described in the books. Quinn saw a Potion ingredient shop and saw a bright stack of cauldrons outside the shop.
Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, read a sign hanging over them. The shop was named Potage's Cauldron Shop.
He saw a dark-colored building with a sign reading Eeylops Owl
Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy.
And, many more shops like,
Slug Jiggers Apothecary,
Broomstix; a store that sold brooms,
Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour,
The bookstore; Flourish and Blotts,
Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions,
Magical Menagerie; the pet store,
Ollivander's; the wand shop,
And, many more shops of many kinds, but George pulled Quinn, not stopping even at a single one. They walked straight to a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Carved into the white stone was the name of the building,
「Gringotts Wizarding Bank」
Then his eyes found the two figures clad in scarlet and gold, standing in front of the burnished bronze door.
"Goblins."
The identity of the figures escaped Quinn's mouth. They were about a head shorter than Quinn. Had swarthy, clever faces, pointed beards, and very long fingers and feet. Quinn had seen goblin before in his travels.
Quinn and George stopped a distance from Gringotts, and George looked at Quinn before speaking, "Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the only wizarding bank in Magical Britain. This means that goblins have a monopoly over the banking business. In the treaty signed by the Goblin Nation and Ministry Of Magic, it is stated that Gringotts would be the only bank in Magical Britain, and no other bank would be allowed to open and operate in Magical Britain. Failure to comply would, without fail, would lead to a war between the two parties. Plus, in the centuries they have been active, they have cemented their place in the lives of British people. They are too big to fail."
George looked at the building with displeasure in his eyes and spoke with contempt in his tone, "The Ministry Of Magic was foolish enough to sign that treaty and made it binding with no chance for renegotiation. Do you know why this is bad?"
Quinn nodded and stated the obvious, "This kind of monopoly allows them to charge any amount of money for their services. Because of the treaty you mentioned, they have free reign and have no competitor, much less than an alternative." Even though Quinn spent most of his time studying magic, he still was a child of a business owner.
George rubbed Quinn's head and praised him, "Excellent, you are completely right." He looked at the goblins at the door and continued, "Britain's Ministry Of Magic taxes its people a low tax amount, and it is praised all over the world for that, but what they don't know is the reason for such low tax prices. Goblins' charge a lot to maintain the banking system and economy of this country, and that makes the ministry impose lower taxes, to even out the expenditure by the people."
Then George smirked. An unusual expression from the usually stoic man, "That is why I slowly moved all of our family money to Switzerland. It took me ten years to move all our family money out of this damned bank. It was glorious when they realized what I had done, and they couldn't do a single thing about it."
Then George sighed, "Now, we don't use Gringotts for any financial services. It does cause us to spend an amount of money to transfer money to Switzerland regularly, for our business operated in Britain. Even then, it is much less than the amount that it would take to maintain our accounts at Gringotts."
Quinn nodded with an 'is that so' expression, "So, why are we here?"
George revealed the reason with a sigh, "Now that you are going to Hogwarts, you would be needing money for things. Knowing you, you would start ordering extra books and other things like potion ingredients via mail order. It isn't safe for you to have your entire allowance in person without security, and as Gringotts have regular contact with muggle banks because of the muggleborns, they have adopted a cheque service that would allow mail-ordering businesses to retrieve money directly from Gringotts. You could send us the list of things, and we could buy them for you, but it would waste unnecessary time. So, I have opened a student trust vault for you. Now, let's go in and retrieve your key."
The pair entered the bank, and the goblin guards bowed, and as they walked inside, they faced another door of silver, with words engraved upon them:
[
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
]
A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors, and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. Doors numbering an amount laborious to count exited the main hall, and goblins guided people in-and-out of these pathways.
George and Quinn made for the counter.
"Morning," said George to a free goblin teller. "We have come here to retrieve the keys and other items for Quinn West's student vault."
The goblin looked down at the pair from his high desk, and Quinn could almost hear a snarl in the goblin's voice as he spoke, "West."
"Yes, West." Once again, Quinn could almost hear the smugness in his grandfather's voice. And, Quinn had to say, he was loving this adventurous side of his grandfather.
Quinn silently watched as the goblin glared down at his grandfather, and his grandfather smiled up at the goblin.
"George West," the goblin identified George with a scowl on his face.
"Goblin," replied George with the smile on his face deepening.
After continuing the staring contest for another while, before the goblin harrumphed, "Papers."
George retrieved some documents from his robes and handed them to the goblin. The goblin studied them with the intent for a while before snarling something over his shoulder in Gobbledegook. The goblin turned to the human pair and said, "Wait, you will have your items shortly." Then he ignored them completely.
George and Quinn stood to the side to wait for their items, and while they were waiting, Quinn asked. "Grandfather, are you sure that they won't make trouble for me when I use their services?"
George shook his head and explained, "Gringotts make sure that their services are always on point. Goblins work hard to make sure that there are minimal mistakes. They know if they make mistakes, the ministry will breathe down their necks because the ministry doesn't like the treaty and are actively trying to find issues to put the Goblin Nation and Gringotts on the back foot."
While they were waiting for the goblins, Quinn heard someone call out, "Mr. West." Both George and Quinn turned to see who had called them out, to find a man and a teen walk towards them.
George looked at the man walking towards him and said, "Diggory, Amos Diggory."
The two men shook hands, but Quinn wasn't listening to them as he was too busy staring at the teen in front of him.
'Holy! He is Cedric Diggory, isn't he? So, the characters will look like their movie actors, huh,' thought Quinn as he observed a young Cedric Diggory.
Cedric Diggory sensed someone staring at him, and when he turned to find out, it was the kid who was standing with the man his father was talking to. He decided to talk to the kid and introduce himself,
"Hello. My name is Cedric Diggory."
Quinn snapped out his thoughts and introduced himself, "Morning, My name is Quinn West." He put out his hand for a handshake which Cedric shook.
"So, Quinn, how old are you?" asked Cedric.
"I am eleven years old," replied Quinn, and from the question, he could guess where this conversation was going.
Cedric perked up as he found something to start the conversation, "So you must be attending Hogwarts this year."
Quinn nodded with a smile, "Yes, I will be a first-year this year. What about you?"
"I will be a second-year this year. Have you decided which house you want to be in? I am in Hufflepuff," asked Cedric as they chatted.
Quinn shrugged and replied, "I haven't thought about what house I want to be in. I actually don't know how houses are assigned. My grandfather wouldn't tell me anything about it."
A full-blown smile appeared on Cedric's face as he said, "Then it is best if you get to know about it on the day itself. I assure you it will be a fun experience."
Quinn nodded as he already knew the sorting ceremony and was just asking so that the conversation would go on.
"So, did you buy your wand?" asked Cedric, knowing that getting a wand was the one thing all new students got excited about.
Quinn shook his head, but Cedric could see the excitement in his eyes, so he gave Quinn a piece of advice, "When you to Ollivanders, the owner, Ollivander would try to surprise you, so look out for him, okay."
Quinn tilted his head in confusion for show and nodded.
By then, Amos Diggory and George had caught up with each other and turned their attention to their children.
"And, who might you be, little man?" asked Amos Diggory.
Quinn turned to face Amos and introduced himself. "Morning, My name is Quinn West. It is a pleasure to meet you." Quinn once again put out his for a handshake, and Amos shook his hand with a smile.
Amos looked at George and asked, "Dear Merlin, Mr. West, I didn't know you had another grandchild."
George chuckled and said, "This one doesn't like to get out of the house."
The goblin teller called for Quinn and George to take their items, and after that, they parted from the Diggorys.
As they exited the bank, George told Quinn about Amos Diggory, "Amos Diggory, pureblood, works at Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic. Amos is actually part of the Goblin Liason Office. Though it is quite fortunate that he isn't the head of the Liason office, with his overly emotional personality, the goblins would have eaten him alive." George paused for a moment before stating, "He is barely competent at his job."
Quinn thought about the discrimination in the ministry and the purebloods occupying most of the high-ranking positions. The half-bloods occupied the rest of the high-ranking positions and no muggleborn representation.
Quinn was a pureblood because neither of his parents and grandparents were non-magicals (muggles) or first-generation magicals (muggleborns). But unlike most of the British pureblood families, West Family wasn't on their way to inbreeding. Quinn's grandmother was from France, and his mother from Italy and that had provided the family with sufficient gene diversity.
George looked at his grandson and smiled, "Come on, let's get to you all the stuff needed. Especially your wand."
Quinn grinned broadly in response.
-*-*-*-*-*-
[
A/N [1] - Now, let's make some things clear. Quinn West is ONE YEAR OLDER than Harry Potter. He was born in 1979 (Harry - 1980) and is starting Hogwarts in 1990 (Harry - 1991).
A/N [2] - Now, despite the speculations about Quinn following Harry, he won't be doing that. He will be a bit too busy learning magic. But, there will be some interactions that are inevitable. Now, I HAVEN'T actually revealed Quinn's current magic capabilities, I will reveal them when he officially enters Hogwarts.
A/N [3] - I am trying to keep this SEMI-realistic. He won't be as powerful as Dumbledore and Voldemort right off the bat. It would take time. Plus, Quinn WON'T solely focus on COMBAT MAGIC.
My design for Quinn is of an innovator/researcher. Combat Magic is NOT the only magic available. I know there is a war coming and combat magic would be important, but I still want to focus on "PRODUCTION MAGIC".
]
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - 11 years Old - About to join Hogwarts.
George West - Grandfather - Dunked on Gringotts.
Alan D. Baddeley - Teacher - Has offered an apprenticeship.
Amos Diggory - Ministry Employ - Generally happy, but is quite emotional
Cedric Diggory - Hogwarts Student - 2nd-year student -Looks like his movie actor.
-*-*-*-*-*-
If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
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As they exited Gringotts, Quinn turned to George and advised, "Grandfather, I want to go to the wand store at the end. If we go there first, I am sure that I won't pay attention to anything after. I want to go home straight home after we get my wand. Can we do that?"
George chuckled and replied, "Alright, then we will get your wand at the end. Let's get you all the stuff needed. Tell me what do we need to buy."??
Quinn looked at the list of things from his mindscape and listed off things, "First of all, we need cauldrons. The Hogwarts list only asks for a pewter cauldron, but I require a copper and brass one as well. Similarly, we also need to buy stirring spoons of all the same materials. And all the other preparation equipment like knives, crushers, mortars, and pestles. Oh! We also need potion and ingredient vials of different shapes and shades. And at last, we need potion-grade protective gloves and safety goggles."
George nodded, and the pair went to Potage's Cauldron Shop to buy the potion supplies. George ordered all the things and told them to deliver them to the West Manor. He also showed Quinn how to use his cheques and pay for things.
They came out, and George asked, "What is next?"
"Robes. I need five sets of plain work robes in black, two plain pointed hats in black, and three winter cloak in black with silver fastenings. In addition, all clothes need a tag with my name on them," replied Quinn.
"Alright, let's go to Madam Malkin's. That shop the best when it comes to Hogwarts uniforms," replied George before supplying, "Do you know Madam Malkin's has been open since the time of my grandfather."
When they entered the store, an assistant greeted them, "Welcome to Madam Malkin's. How may we help you today?"
"We need five sets of standard Hogwarts robes and uniforms; please make them in raw silk. Two black pointed hats, made from a raw silk and cotton blend, and five pairs of white socks. Three sets of sweaters, made from a wool and silk blend. Three sets of winter robes made from your best material." George paused for a moment before adding, "Please line the insides of both summer and winter robes with pockets, and I want individual threads to be charmed with suitable charms instead of the final product."
The assistant jotted down all the requests and replied, "Certainly, there is a five-minute wait. Please, wait in the seating area. I will call you in when it is your turn."
George and Quinn sat in the seating area, and Quinn asked, "There was nothing of that mentioned in the letter." George smiled and answered, "If you go to any clothing store, the employees will walk you through the entire process when you ask them for Hogwarts robes. But, it helps if you know the things to expedite the process. Now, all we need for clothing are leather belts. We will get them at another store in Carkitt Market."
The assistant called Quinn for the measurement, and Madame Malkin used her charmed-measuring tapes to take measures and then asked them to return in half an hour to get their clothes.
They exited the store and talked about the next course of action, "So, where to next," asked George.
Quinn thought about it and said, "I already have a telescope, so we don't need to buy that, so let's get the leather belt and then pass some time at Flourish and Blotts till the clothes are done, and then go buy me a wand," finished Quinn with a smile on his face.
"You and your obsession with books," said George while looking at his grandson. "Alright, let's do that."
The pair went to a leather accessory store to have their belts made and then went to Flourish and Blotts, where Quinn got the biggest shock of his second life.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn entered Flourish and Blotts and left behind George to browse the collection of books in the store. Till now, he had been buying supplementary books with the help of catalogs of various bookstores around the world, so he never needed to visit a bookstore, so he decided to take his browsing through the books.
While he was browsing through the books, he reached the fiction section and found some books that made him laugh as they were fictional books on Harry Potter and his supposed adventures. It was a completed series sold in a set of seven books.
With a smile on his face, he turned around and saw a stand of newspaper and magazine. He picked up Daily Prophet, which his grandfather termed as 'A joke of a newspaper.' When he looked at the first page, his body and brain froze.
On the first page of the Daily Prophet, in bold words, the headline said.
「POTTERS SEEN AT THE MINISTRY.」
Quinn's jaw dropped when he saw the accompanying photo and in it, he saw four people; two adults and two children. He immediately recognized the boy child in the photo as the golden boy, The-Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen One, Harry James Potter, with his glasses and the lightning bolt scar on the forehead. He looked like a near-spitting image of the man in the photo who Quinn guessed was the supposed-to-be-dead, James Potter.
Quinn focused on the other two people in the photo, and while he couldn't make out the color of the lady's hair in the black-and-white photo, Quinn was ready to bet his whole book collection that the lady was Lily Potter (nee. Evans). The only one he didn't recognize was the girl in the photo. He didn't know if the girl was a twin or a little sister, but he had to find out about this whole situation,
'Merlin's balls' is this an AU or parallel universe. No wonder things were going too smoothly; fate was waiting to be a b*tch, and now she struck me with a sledgehammer like this,' thought Quinn, as he stared intently at the paper.
He clutched the paper in his hands, and with a quick-thumping heart, power-walked around the store to find books related to the Boy-who-lived and You-know-who.
'I knew these hyphenated bastards were going to make problems for me, but this is ridiculous.' Quinn came to a sudden stop as he found the book he was looking for.
「Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.」
He nearly ripped the book out of the shelf, opened it to find the index, and found the heading, 'First Wizarding War.' Quinn sat down in front of the bookshelf and flipped to the chapter about the First Wizarding War.
As he read it, the book helped clear his doubts. The events were the same canon, but things changed when the war reached the date October 31, 1981.
On Halloween, in Godric's Hollows, it wasn't James and Lily Potter that died, but Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, the grandparents of Harry Potter, who had died. James and Lily Potter were out of the house when Voldemort struck, and in Potter's house were the grandparents with their grandchildren, the twins, Harry and Ivy Potter.
Albus Dumbledore declared Harry Potter as the Boy-Who-Lived. The reason wasn't stated, but Quinn knew it was because of the prophecy and the scar that marked Harry and Voldemort's equal.
'Fleamont and Euphemia Potter didn't die earlier, so they lived till the war. They died, so the remaining Potters are alive, Harry Potter will no longer be the abused boy in the books. By the looks of the photograph, this isn't a Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived scenario or a neglect-plot. Now, Harry Potter has a twin sister,' thought Quinn as he stared at the words in the book.
He clutched his head and groaned in a whiny tone, "I should have gone to Beauxbatons!" Alas, the time had passed, yesterday was the last day for booking a seat at either of the institutes, and Quinn couldn't do shit now.
Quinn decided to think about this whole situation later as he heard his grandfather call out to him. He put the book back on the shelf and was about to put the newspaper back, but decided to take it with him to the counter. He had questions, and his grandfather was going to answer them.
Quinn walked to George with the issue of Daily Prophet and showed it to him. "Grandfather, who are these people?" He faced the front page towards George.
George looked at the paper but showed no particular interest in seeing the Potters in the paper. He stared at the headline and the photo for a moment before saying, "They are the Potters. Don't worry about them. I was going to tell you about the political landscape of Magical Britain this week. We will discuss them during our lessons."
Quinn nodded as he could wait till tomorrow to get the complete picture. But, there was a discomfort in the back of his thoughts.
He decided to move on from the current topic and spoke, "Okay, let's go collect my clothes and then go buy a wand." Quinn thought that getting a wand would cheer him up.
George agreed, and the pair collected Quinn's clothes and moved on to Ollivanders. Ollivanders was narrow and shabby. Even the golden sign on the place was peeling.
「Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.」
A single wand sat on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.
When Quinn entered the shop, a tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop greeted them. He forgot about every warning and scene he had read in various fictions and just took in the quiet vibe of the shop and the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. The thought of thousands of wands in this store was a sight of awe.
It took a soft, "Good Morning" from behind to snap Quinn out of his daze. Quinn shivered, hearing the voice, and with a frown, looked back to see an old man with wide pale eyes that shown like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"You must be Mr. Garrick Ollivander. Good morning to you as well. My name is Quinn West, and I am here to buy a wand," like a champ, Quinn stuck out his hand for a handshake.
Ollivander stared at Quinn's hand for a moment before shaking it. Then he turned to face George and spoke, "George West. Redwood, thirteen and a half quarters long, flexible, with a dragon heartstring core." Ollivander smiled, thinking about the wand he crafted.
"Redwood a rare wood which is always in demand because of its reputation for bringing good fortune to its owner, and if we look at Mr. West's success in business, that reputation might be true," spoke Garrick Ollivander.
George took out his wand and said, "It has served me well all these years."
Ollivander turned back to Quinn and said, "Now, let's get you a wand, Mr. Quinn West."
In response to that, Quinn only said, "Your occlumency skills must be fantastic." It really was the top thought that came to mind.
Garrick Ollivander stilled for a second before replying, "Indeed they are Mr. West. I need to remember every wand so that I know how they were crafted. It helps me in maintaining wands crafted by me and is also mighty helpful when I help people find their wands. It helps me when I remember all the thousands of presets to which I can refer to."
Ollivander stepped closer to Quinn and asked, "You wand arm?"
Quinn held out his right hand, and Ollivander measured Quinn from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round his head. As he measured, Ollivander said,
"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. West. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such excellent results with another wizard's wand."
Ollivander stepped away from Quinn to retrieve some wands as his measuring tape continued to do its thing.
"That will do," said Ollivander as the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. West. Try this one. Elm and hair from a unicorn's mane. Eleven inches. Nice and rigid. Just take it and give it a wave."
Quinn took the wand in hand and swung, but nothing happened, and Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.
"Ebony and unicorn, flexible. Please, do try." Once again, there was no feeling from Quinn. And, Ollivander snatched it back and put it back into its box.
He offered another wand before snatching it away, "Unicorn hair doesn't work for you, Mr. West."
Quinn shrugged in response, and Ollivander moved around Quinn to find something before handing him another wand, but it also failed, and after a lot of giving and snatching from Ollivander, he finally offered Quinn a wand that worked.
"Please try this one. Acacia wood with phoenix tail feather. Fourteen inches long, rigid flexibility," offered Ollivander and the second Quinn held the wand, the wand glowed.
Ollivander smiled and started with his patented line, "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. West. And, this wand has chosen you. Acacia is a very unusual wand wood, which I have found creates tricky wands that often refuse to produce magic for any but their owner and also withhold their best effects from all but those most gifted. Whereas Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken, one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard-won."
Ollivander stared without blinking at one of his works in Quinn's hand and spoke, "This results in a wand with the stringiest condition to master, and that kind of wand has chosen you. Be proud, Mr. West."
George simply smiled as they saw Quinn stare at his wand. It was his grandson's first wand and if, Quinn was lucky, the only wand.
But Quinn was not smiling. He wasn't even feeling happy. Quinn's current feeling could be most closely described as pure dread. The moment he held the wand, it filled him with an intoxicating feeling. The wand provided him with magic focusing abilities far more potent than his natural capabilities. But, he also felt the threat the wand brought him.
Quinn's entire being was screaming at him, warning him that if he continued to use the wand, his natural focus would stop growing at his current speed, and it would come to a plateau. With time it would become more and more difficult to perform focusless magic. His instincts were screaming at him to drop the wand at the very moment.
It took Quinn every ounce of his self-learned emotional aspect occlumency to detach himself from his overflowing emotions to look up at Ollivander. He did not forget to put up a smile before asking, "Do you sell wand holster and wand maintenance kits, Mr. Ollivander?"
After Ollivander sold Quinn his wand, holster, and maintenance kit, he shooed them out of the shop.
Quinn could still feel the wand in the holster on his side. All he wanted to do was to reach the West Manor and get away from the wand.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn and George reached home, and after showing everyone the wand, every second of which was very despairing for Quinn.
The second Quinn reached his room, he shut and locked the door, then threw the wand with the holster on the bed, and stared at it from a distance while sitting in front of his study table.
His heart was still beating at a higher rate than usual.
Quinn was feeling two opposite feelings at the same time. He was feeling despair from the consequences of using a wand, but at the same time, he still wanted to hold the wand and feel the heightened control over his magic.
For Quinn, the wand was a poison. A sweet poison, but a poison nevertheless.
At that moment, Quinn realized why magical focuses had taken over the world.
After what felt like days but were only a few minutes, Quinn made his decision. He opened the window to his room and then ran out of his room to the backyard. In the backyard, Quinn retrieved a small log of wood. He levitated it to the area outside of his room window. Then he sent the log of wood into his room via the open window.
In his room, Quinn set the log of wood on the floor. He was going to use his favorite branch of magic on the log of wood,
「Transmutation.」
Transmutation was the magic of altering the state of a substance. By using Transmutation, one could manipulate and alter matter by using magic. Transmutation was a two-step process; Deconstruction and Reconstruction.
Unlike Transfiguration, where you could change an object into another completely different object regardless of the material, Transmutation only allowed to change the structure of a material. This meant that it could only turn a log of wood into a wooden object.
But, the advantage of Transmutation over Transfiguration was that transmutated objects didn't sacrifice structural integrity and quality and the magic was permanent. Transumutated objects remained in the new shape indefinitely, whereas transfigured objects always turned back into their original form when the magic wore off.
Quinn knelt in front of the log of wood and touched it to use the magic. He knew the inherent structure and properties of the wood.
Quinn used deconstruction to break down the physical structure of wood into a more malleable state to be easily reshaped into a new form. Then he used reconstruction to reshape it into a wooden box with the same shape as the wand boxes at Ollivanders, with an indent in the exact shape of Quinn's new wand inside the box.
[A/N: Similar (key: similar) to Transmutation in Full Metal Alchemist, but I will be limiting the capabilities. A watered-down version of FMA's Transmutation. I am not categorizing it under Alchemy. Harry Potter's Alchemy is closer to potion brewing.]
He looked at the wand on the bed and levitated it into the wooden box, fitting it inside the wand-shaped indent, wincing while doing it as his magic coming in contact with the wand was enough for Quinn to feel the temptation of the wand's abilities.
He shut the lid on the new housing for his wand, picked it up, and placed it in the deepest corner of his cupboard.
Quinn exhaled a sigh of relief, but he knew that the work wasn't complete. He needed to craft a replacement for his wand. With the remaining log of wood, he crafted a replica of his wand.
Quinn's new wand had an extremely simple design. It was a relatively thick wand with a very low difference in the radius of the tip and butt of the wand. The only design on the wand was a criss-cross pattern etched into the wood for better grip. Other than that, the wand was bare.
Quinn picked his replica and casted the color-changing charm to complete the look. Now, he held a blank piece of wood shaped into a wand that he bought today and had held for just a few minutes. On the very first day of buying a wand, Quinn had locked the real wand into a box and placed a replica into his newly bought holster.
As Quinn collapsed on his bed, he only had a single thought,
'Today was a terrible day.'
-*-*-*-*-*-
[
A/N [1: I have corrected Cedric's age in the previous chapter.
A/N [2: Once again, FMA's Transmutation is not the same as my version of Transmutation. And, I am not classifying it under Alchemy. Harry Potter's Alchemy is more like potion brewing.
]
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - 11 Years Old - Current thoughts, "Fate is a B*tch".
George West - Grandfather - Rosewood wand = Super rich.
Garrick Ollivander - Wandmaker - "Wand chooses the Wizard."
-*-*-*-*-*-
If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
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Quinn didn't sleep well at night after buying the wand. Even after his usual routine of exhausting his magic that leaves him dead tired at night, he couldn't sleep. Knowing that there was a wand in his cupboard kept him up all night. Quinn spent the whole night staring at the cupboard or trying to look away from the cupboard.
There were times when Quinn sat up on his bed and was tempted to open up the cupboard and take out the wand and hold it one more time. The temptation of once more feeling the heightened focus gripped Quinn all night, but in the end, Quinn didn't open the cupboard and didn't see the wand.??
He could only get a brief rest after the sun came up.
The next day, Quinn had to pretend to be all giddy and joyous for finally getting his wand. In the morning, Quinn, before exiting his room, wore his wand holster with the fake-wand replica in it. He had to play the part of the cheerful kid who got his wand.
So he did. Quinn pranced around the house, showing off his fake-wand to all the people and swinging it, pretending to cast spells with whoosh-whoosh noises.
To distract himself, he threw himself into all his usual activities. He kept himself busy. That day, he played the piano and his second instrument, the Violin. He practiced ballroom dancing. Brewed potions and tended to the herb garden. Researched occlumency/legilimency to create an alternative model of defenses to practice against. And practiced other fields of magic. Anything to keep himself from having free time.
It wasn't till the evening when Quinn was called into his grandfather's study. When he entered George's study, Quinn asked, "Why have you called for me, grandfather?"
George gestured to Quinn to take a seat before speaking, "We would be discussing the political landscape of Britain and the notable families inside Britain."
Quinn's eyes widened as he had forgotten all about it. The wand incident had taken all his attention, and the realization that this world maybe being an alternate universe or a parallel universe had completely slipped his mind.
"Ah, yes. I had completely forgotten about that. What was the name I saw in the newspaper? Potters, was it?" said Quinn, slowly shifting his attention from the wand incident to this topic.
George nodded and started, "Yes, the Potters, but we will come to them later. First, let's talk about the creation of Magical Britain." When Quinn nodded, George continued, "The Ministry of Magic is the main governing body of the magical community of Great Britain and Ireland, with the intention of preservation of magical law. The ministry also connects the British non-magical government to the magical world."
Quinn nodded as he already knew that.
"But, before Ministry Of Magic, there was another governing body. The name was the Wizards' Council. Upon establishing the International Statute of Magical Secrecy in 1692, the British magical community needed a more highly structured, organized, and complex government structure to support and regulate the community in hiding. Thus, in 1707, the Wizards' Council disbanded to be replaced by the Ministry of Magic."
George then explained something about the Wizard's Council, "You see, the same group of people ran Wizards' Council for centuries, and the positions on the Wizards' Council were hereditary. So, they dubbed those families as The Noble and Most Ancient Houses."
Quinn nodded with interest. He hadn't known the reason behind the creation of The Noble and Most Ancient House.
"Now, when the Ministry Of Magic was founded, the ministry dubbed plenty more influential families as Noble Houses," explained George. "Now, you might wonder what this has to do with anything. The thing is that many The Noble and Most Ancient Houses and Noble Houses hold positions in Wizengamot."
The Wizengamot was Magical Britain's high court of law and parliament and predated the Ministry of Magic itself. Dating back to the days of the medieval Wizards' Council. And currently had a lot of power in the governing of magical Britain.
"Please note that not all The Noble and Most Ancient Houses and Noble Houses hold positions in Wizengamot, but all the families that occupy seats hold the title of The Noble and Most Ancient Houses or Noble Houses."
George opened a book and showed him a crest, "This is the crest of the Weasley family, and they are a Noble House, but they don't hold a seat in Wizengamot." He flipped a page and showed another crest, "Burke is a Noble and Most Ancient House, and they don't hold a seat in Wizengamot."
He closed the book and continued, "The point is that families can hold power in the Wizengamot, and they are very active in politics. Another noticeable point is that the title of Noble and Most Ancient House can't be revoked, but the title of the Noble House can be revoked."
George leaned back into his chair and stated, "Our family could have gained a title of Noble family if desired," then he snorted, "But, we don't really need it. It is frighteningly easy to get things done in the British Ministry of Magic if you have money, which we have in plenty."
George once again flipped some pages and showed him another crest, "Look at Malfoys; they have the minister in his pockets and spend plenty of money to remain in political power. In the past, they bought themselves the title of the noble family. Neither I, nor my predecessors saw the merit in getting a seat in the Wizengamot. So we never tried to gain the title of a noble family. If you or Lia want to gain the title, then we can just shed some money, and we would have the title, but I would advise against it."
He then opened another page of the book in front of him and showed him a tally, "Every decision in the Wizengamot is decided by voting. You need a clear majority to pass a bill. Heads of titled families have one (1) vote each in the Wizengamot. The minister holds the highest of five (5) votes. Every head of a department in the ministry has two (2) votes. Chief Warlock of Wizengamot has three (3) votes. Finally, the headmaster of Hogwarts holds one (1) vote."
George placed a blank sheet of paper on the table. Drew a circle on it and then divided it into three parts. With a swing of his wands, one part turned black, the other part turned grey, and the third part remained blank.
"I divide the current political landscape into three factions; Dark, Grey, and Light. The Dark faction is pure-blood supremacists and tries to keep the power within the pureblood community. The Light faction tries to keep the power away from the Dark faction and their pureblood propaganda. They have a Liberal mindset that supports half-bloods and muggleborns. The Grey faction acts with the motive of self-interest; they would support anyone if they are benefiting. But, they also keep the other two factions at bay. The Grey faction rejects any outlandish, extremist ideas from either party. This is assuring because I hear some really ridiculous ideas presented at the Wizengamot."
Quinn stayed silent and just took in the information provided by George.
"Now, before we dive into the leaders of the factions. I would like to talk to you about the Wizarding War from 1970 to 1981. In that war, a dark lord rallied the pureblood supremacists and declared a war against the muggles and muggleborn. He took advantage of one of the wizarding world's greatest weaknesses: the beings and creatures they had outcast. The Dark Lord recruited the giants, who had long ago been driven by magical humans into the mountains, and werewolves, who were persecuted by most magic kind." George explained in detail about the war.
Then George looked at Quinn and said, "People even feared saying the name of the dark lord, and called You-Know-Who or The-One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Do you know why people feared saying his name?"
Quinn shook his head, even though he knew the reason behind the hyphenated alternatives.
"The Taboo is a powerful spell, which designated a word as a key to revealing the speaker's location. They used this spell during the War. During the said war, saying the dark lord's name was made Taboo." George solemnly continued, "I had already left Britain with your parents and newly born sister, so we were never near the war, but even then, we would hear stories of people getting captured by the dark lord's Death Eaters."
George wrote the words on the paper and recited the name on the sheet, "The name of the dark lord was Voldemort."
Quinn knew the name was an anagram from Voldemort's real name; Tom Marvolo Riddle.
"Then on 31 October 1981, Halloween, the dark lord died at Godric's Hollow. He died at the hands of a one-year-old babe. The name of that babe was Harry Potter, popularly known as the Boy-Who-Lived. But, not before killing off Harry Potter's grandparents, Fleamont and Euphemia Potter," George sighed once before continuing. "I wouldn't call Fleamont and Euphemia friends, but they were easy to do business with. I lost potential business that day. Their son, James Potter, isn't one bit interested in business."
Quinn nodded. It was surprising that his grandfather had contact with the Potters. But when taking in the fact that his grandfather had his hands in every possible business opportunity in Britain, it made sense that he knew many people. Potters were, as George said, business opportunities.
"From that day onwards, Potter became extremely famous, and Harry Potter became the savior of Magical Britain. That fame has lasted till this day, as the Potters used that fame to enter politics and rallied all the Light families under the Light faction. Currently, the light faction is led by Albus Dumbledore. You must know this name, correct?"
Quinn affirmed, "Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He also holds seats in Wizengamot as Chief Warlock, Head of the Noble House of Dumbledore, and the headmaster of Hogwarts," he paused for a second before continuing, "Doesn't that make his vote count equal to the minister's five votes."
George chuckled, "Yes, it does. Albus Dumbledore works hard to keep all those positions. Along with his five votes, the entire Light faction's support, and all their votes. Potters follow him, and so does the rest of the Light faction. We can say Albus Dumbledore is the Light faction."
Quinn thought about something he wanted to ask, "Do we have some business in Hogwarts?"
George's eyes sparkled and enthusiastically answered, "Yes, we do. We own Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop in Hogsmeade, so all the school stationery for all Hogwart's students and professors is supplied by us. Plus, we also cater a portion of the school's potion ingredient and food supplies."
Quinn nodded and curiously asked, "Why do Hogwarts still use quills and parchment instead of pen and paper?"
"I truly do not know, but they don't want to change, so we supply what they demand," George spoke while shrugging. "I guess they are trying to keep up an old tradition alive, or maybe they don't want to adopt non-magical advancement."
George bought back the conversation to the track and spoke, "Now, let's talk about the Dark faction. The dark faction is the remnants of the dark lord's Death Eaters," George scoffed, "After the war, most of them pleaded the case of being under the influence of Imperius Curse, and with a lot of bribery, Wizengamot acquitted them with heavy fines that went into ministry coffers. During the war, the dark lord led the Dark faction, but before the war, the dominant force was the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. They were in power since Wizards' Council's time. But, in the war, most of the Black family either died or imprisoned. Only two people of Black family are still in Black House, Arcturus Black (A/N, below) and Sirius Black. Arcturus Black is extremely weak, and no one has seen him since the war, I saw him after we returned from our tour, we talked some business. Sirius Black spends his time at the Auror Office or with the Potters among the Light faction. That lad is close friends with James Potter, plus Sirius Black is also disowned by the Black family. There are some more Blacks, but they are married or disowned."
Quinn wasn't surprised when he heard Sirius Black was out and not in Azkaban because if the Potters were alive, they would have spoken for Sirius at his hearing. That probably meant that Peter Pettigrew was either in Azkaban or maybe even dead.
George sneered before flipping some pages and showed Quinn another crest, "Now, Malfoys lead the Dark faction, they were the main sponsors of the dark lord after the Blacks, and with so much money funneled into the corrupt ministry, the Malfoys got out scot-free. Now, they are in power because a lot of Dark families had to pay a lot for getting out of Azkaban, and Malfoys were the best prepared for it, so they are the strongest among the Dark faction in the post-war times."
Malfoys in power was not surprising as the power of money was very potent in Magical Britain. Malfoys had the minister in his pocket. And, from listening to George, the West family also had a considerable amount of money in the ministry.
"Now, the last faction is the Grey Faction, with the Noble and Most Ancient House of Greengrass leading them. Jacob Greengrass is a cunning man. He is a smart man and an excellent leader. After the war, he held the Grey faction together without any internal turmoil, and just like me, he saw the profit after the war subsided. I was a little upset when he tried to compete with me for resources, post-war. He and Lucius Malfoy are the two people who can rival my business in Britain," George laughed and spoke as if looking down on the two heads of houses. "But, that only means that they earn as much as our business in Britain. They wouldn't even touch the soles of my feet if I took into account our business from overseas."
Quinn held back a hell yeah and just smiled as he listened to his grandfather boasting about his earnings and accomplishment as he compared himself to two men who would be younger than Quinn's father if he was still alive.
George closed the book of crests, and he was back to his usual stoic self, and with a caution staining his voice and words, he warned, "Beware of Albus Dumbledore, anytime I have met the man, he has tried to get me to join his cause. The man had tried to make me sponsor his vigilante group before I left the country, and when I returned, he once again tried to get his hands in my wallet by trying to have me sponsor the Light faction. Albus Dumbledore is too manipulative, and even though I am no stranger to manipulation, I just don't like it when it is done against me. Your future headmaster holds too much power, which might haven't been bad, if he was putting it to good use, and even if his reputation is positive and people think that he is the next big thing since Merlin, that man has been through two wars and was at the forefront in both of them. If I have learned anything from my father, then it is that war changes people; think what two wars could do to a person."
Quinn solemnly nodded as even without his warning, Quinn was going to avoid Albus Dumbledore. From what Quinn had read in the books, the man was treated like a person who could do no wrong and had the following of a cult leader.
Quinn didn't want to approach the headmaster even if he offered to teach him alchemy, as Quinn was a hundred percent sure that it would come with a catch. After all, Albus Dumbledore once was romantically involved with Gellert Grindelwald. Quinn was sure some manipulative tendencies were rubbed onto Dumbledore from Grindelwald.
Or was it the other way around?
For the rest of the month, Quinn learned from George about the ins-and-outs of the political landscape of Magical Britain. Except for Albus Dumbledore, George didn't warn Quinn to stay away from anyone. As long as Quinn understood that blood supremacy was false and stupid, it was okay to build connections with children from Death Eater/Dark faction families. George said that Quinn could make friends with anyone who wasn't after money.
Quinn spent his remaining time before Hogwarts with his family and practicing magic. He wasn't comfortable with free time as he ended up thinking of the wand in his cupboard, and Quinn made sure to only spend time in his room for sleeping and when Quinn wanted to browse books from his bookshelves, but other than that, he spent time away from his wand.
On 1 September 1990, it was time for Quinn to leave home to start his journey of learning magic at Hogwarts.
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(End of Volume One: Pre-Hogwarts)
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A/N [1: NO! Albus Dumbledore won't be bat shit crazy. He WON'T be Evil (with capital E). He would keep his cards close to his chest. He will be complicated. As I generally wing it when it comes to the finer details of the plot as I write, I don't know what will be Dumbledore's final personality.
I generally don't like when SI-OC (at least when they are young) in HP communicate with Dumbledore right off the bat. He will communicate with Dumbledore when Quinn gets confident enough in facing Dumbledore (Hint: Quinn's confidence is tied to his magical prowess. Part of his personality)
A/N [2: I don't know if Ivy Potter (Harry's OC Sister) will be a romantic interest. My current purpose of creating her is because of Harry's new personality (He won't be the canon personality, but he won't be spoiled. He will be a prankster/bully but with Lily's influence he will be a slightly smarter version of James Potter.)
With Harry's new personality, Hermione Granger might not join to form the Golden Trio, but I am going to use Ivy Potter to fix that somehow. R.I.P Golden Trio.
A/N [3: Arcturus Black is Sirius Black's grandfather. He is NOT an OC character. He is a CANON character. He is alive at this point in time in the CANON. So, I mentioned him here.
]
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Quinn smiled as he looked around the room he was standing in. Quinn was experiencing pure joy. It was for the first time since buying the wand that he had felt this level of delight.
He was currently standing in a room that was filled with bookshelves. They were empty bookshelves. Not a single book could be found in the bookshelves around Quinn.??
Quinn walked to a staircase and climbed up to another floor with more empty bookshelves. Quinn had a smile on his face, and his hands behind his back strolled among the rows of bookshelves.
He reached a part on the second level where there was an opening in the floor. The opening had wooden railings surrounding it. From that opening, Quinn could see down to the first floor. Just below the opening was a huge, heavy wood table for studying in the library.
Quinn leaned against the railing as he exhaled out a sigh of happiness. He was currently standing in a two-floor library, a library which was inside a suitcase. A suitcase that was magically expanded.
Where did Quinn get it? It was a gift from Lia, she had commissioned a magically expanded suitcase from a famous suitcase maker in America. It reminded Quinn of Newt Scamander's suitcase.
After exploring the whole suitcase, he found that it housed a huge two-story library, a potion room with multiple workbenches and ingredient cabinets. It had a large walk-in closet for all his clothes, he also saw a fully furnished bedroom, if he wanted to sleep in the suitcase. And so many large empty rooms for Quinn to customized later.
The suitcase didn't have the option to support growing vegetation like Newt Scamander's, but Quinn was content with that as he wasn't planning to store different beasts inside it or grow potion ingredients inside. He had been quite happy to know that he could carry all his books from around the world with him.
The ministry highly regulated this kind of expansion charm, but George had managed to get approval for the suitcase. And even if someone wanted to check his suitcase, it had a feature that it would hide all the rooms except the few designated rooms. Quinn was grateful for this feature as he knew in the future there would be quite a few books the ministry would classify as dark in his collection after he copied the books from the restricted section of Hogwarts and the books he could find in the Room Of Requirements. He didn't want his precious source of knowledge to be confiscated.
He was also grateful Lia hadn't provided him more than the bare minimum. Quinn was going to develop this suitcase on his own and turn it into his own place. He was sure it would give a substantial amount of satisfaction when he would fill every room in this suitcase for a specific purpose. Quinn saw the development of the suitcase as a long-term project.
Quinn then transferred all his books to the library, stored all of his new Hogwarts clothes and other clothes in the closet, and put all the other things he would need in Hogwarts into the suitcases. One example was reams upon reams of paper for his own note-taking. Quinn found parchment paper to be a little thick for his taste, and if not charmed, would shrink and expand with heat and humidity.
And finally, Quinn placed a cuboidal block of wood in the center of an empty room in the suitcase. The block of wood held Quinn's wand. Quinn had encased his wand in the block of wood. It wasn't a box or container; it was just a block of wood with Quinn's wand in the middle of it.
He had transmuted the wood to surround his wand and shaped it into a cuboid, and just for safety measure, he had etched the words, 'Do not touch,' on the block of wood. He wasn't ever going to let someone close to the wand container. But in the unlikely event someone got close to it, he etched the words so that they wouldn't touch it. Plus, he would ward and enchant both the block of wood and room when he got enough skills to pull it off.
Before exiting the suitcase, Quinn locked the door and never looked back.
- (Scene Break) -
On 1 September 1990, Quinn, Lia, and George reached Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It was fun when Quinn ran into the wall barrier and passed right through it to enter Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. There was an apparition point inside the platform, but Quinn wanted to go through the wall, so they entered the platform from the non-magical (muggle) side.
Quinn didn't attract any attention as he only had a suitcase with him, and that too was shrunken down by Lia to look like a briefcase. Unlike many other students, he didn't have to carry pet cages, cauldrons, and other big things outside of the suitcase. Plus, all three members were wearing appropriate clothing, so there wasn't a problem on their part, and ministry employees were stationed around the train station to fire memory charms to alter memories of the people who noticed the weird presence of owls in cages on carts.
The sight of the inside of the Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was just as the books had described. The same scarlet steam engine train, with Hogwarts students and their guardians on the platform. When he looked up, he saw the overhead-sign that read Hogwarts Express, Eleven O'clock.
Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd. While cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.
As Quinn and his family had arrived early, and only a few carriages were filled, and he could see students hanging out of the window to talk to their families.
Quinn asked Lia to undo the shrinking charm by using the counter-charm, engorgement charm. And then turned to both of his family members and said, "I guess I will see you at Christmas."
George knelt on one knee and hugged Quinn, "If you have any problem, just owl me, and I will be there to help you. Don't hesitate to ask for help." With one last squeeze, George released Quinn and stood up.
Quinn faced Lia, and she too hugged Quinn and spoke, "Don't follow strangers, ask for help if you have any problem, don't feel pressured to do anything you don't want to, and don't do dangerous stuff. Study hard, but don't forget to have fun. Finally, write me a letter every day."
Quinn laughed while hugging her back, "I can do one letter a week." Lia also chuckled and murmured, "You better."
Quinn also hugged them once from his side and spoke, "Now, don't keep standing here. I don't want to keep waving goodbye to you till the train leaves, so leave immediately."
Lia chuckled and ruffled Quinn's hair a little too roughly, which elicited a swat on her hand from Quinn, who immediately fixed his hair.
Quinn lifted up his suitcase and then boarded the train. The moment he was inside the train and out of Lia and George's sight, he casted a Feather-Light charm on the suitcase and wove through the crowd until he found an empty compartment in the middle of the train.
Quinn entered the compartment and levitated the suitcase onto the overhead luggage rack. Quinn thought of locking the compartment but decided against it.
Quinn sat down next to the window and gazed outside, watching multitudes of students and parents. He saw a huge red-head family stumbling onto the platform, hurrying to the platform as the Hogwarts Express was about to depart. He recognized the Weasley Family; the two parents, Author and Molly, one mid-teen boy, who Quinn guessed was Charles, a pair of twins, Fred and George, another tween boy, Ron, and a little girl, Ginny.
Quinn heard a knock on his door, and when he turned to look, there was a girl, same age as him, standing at the door. She opened the door and asked, "Hey, can I sit here? The rest of the compartments are either filled or people who are saving seats for friends. I can't find a seat."
Quinn nodded and stood up to help the girl with her luggage.
"Thank you, my name is Katie Bell," said the girl.
It inwardly surprised Quinn for a split second before he introduced himself, "You are welcome. My name is Quinn West. First-year?" He also put out a hand for a handshake.
Katie Bell shook Quinn's hand and replied, "Yes, what about you?"
Quinn nodded and spoke while returning to his seat, "I am a first-year as well. Please take a seat."
Katie took the seat opposite Quinn, next to the window, "So, are you excited for Hogwarts?"
Quinn smiled and replied, "Indeed, I am. It would be fun to live in the castle. I read that the grand staircase in Hogwarts is ever-changing. An entire flight of stairs that was charmed to move and change paths."
Katie was amazed, and with plenty of excitement accompanied by slight fear in her voice, she asked, "Really! That is mad, but what happens if someone falls from it?"
Quinn put a hand on his chin before pondering out loud, "I am not sure, but I have heard that the steps of the grand staircase can sink to trap people. Maybe the staircase traps people who are about to fall, or maybe the professors have set some measures." Quinn smiled before saying, "Hogwarts is proud to say that they have zero stairs-related deaths."
Katie giggled at the joke.
"What about you, Ms. Bell? What are you most excited about?" Quinn asked as he set up an elbow on the table in between them.
Katie's eyes sparkled as she babbled, "Quidditch! I love Quidditch. I want to join a Quidditch team." She had a dreamy look on her face as she talked on and on about Quidditch. Though Katie did stop after a while when she realized she had been speaking without stopping.
"Sorry about that. I got too excited," Katie blushed in embarrassment as she apologized.
"Don't mind it, so you said you want to join a team. Which houses' team do you want to join?" asked Quinn as he tried to ease her embarrassment.
"My mother was from Gryffindor, and my father was a Hufflepuff, so I am fine with either of the two. What about you?"
Quinn shrugged as he talked, "I am cool with either of the four houses. My parents didn't attend Hogwarts, but my grandfather did, and he was in Slytherin. But, he said that all houses are good, so I will be good with any of the four."
Katie nodded and continued to talk with him. It didn't surprise Quinn that Katie didn't show any dislike when Quinn mentioned that his grandfather was from Slytherin. Not all children were raised up like Weasleys and grew up with prejudice against Slytherin part of their life.
An hour into the ride, the Trolley lady came knocking on the door and asked, "Anything off the cart, dears?"
Quinn hopped off from his seat and picked a chocolate bar from the trolley. He turned to Katie, "Do you want something?"
Katie gazed at the trolley and said, "Two Cauldron Cakes, please."
Quinn nodded and paid for a chocolate bar and two cauldron cakes, and before the Trolley lady left, he asked, "Ma'am, when would the Buffet Cart open?"
The trolley lady smile and informed, "It will be open from one-thirty and would remain open for two hours, dear."
"Thank you," Quinn thanked before closing the door and walking back to his seat and placed Katie's cauldron cakes on the table.
Katie handed Quinn the money for the cauldron cakes and asked, "What is the Buffet Car?"
Quinn placed the chocolate bar aside and explained, "The train ride is long, so the students must get hungry, and just sweets won't help, so there is a car on the train where you can buy lunch. It is actually written on the backside of the ticket."
"It is?!" Katie said as she fished out her Hogwarts Express ticket and looked at the backside. "Oh, there it is! You are correct. Hogwarts Express provides lunch for students on the Buffet car of the train. Why is the print so small?"
After having lunch, Quinn bought out one of Alan's books on occlumency from his suitcase when Katie was out of their compartment and started reading it.
Quinn started reading, and sometime later, he heard the door open up and Katie standing at the door. She looked at Quinn but didn't enter.
"What is it, Ms. Bell?" asked Quinn.
"Hey, I made a friend and was thinking if she could join us," said Katie. Quinn saw no problem with it, so he nodded, but he was impressed by Katie's ability to make friends. Even when they visited the buffet car, she started talking with a group of people she had just met.
A minute entered later, Katie entered the compartment with another girl. Once again, Quinn helped with the luggage and got a thank you in return.
"Hello, my name is Cho Chang. Nice to meet you," introduced the new girl.
For the second time today, Quinn felt surprised hearing the name and thought, 'What are the chances to meet two named characters before even entering Hogwarts.'
Quinn offered his hand for a handshake while introducing himself, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Chang. My name is Quinn West, first year."
Cho shook Quinn's hand and added, "Me too." Referring to her status as a first-year student.
The three students sat down and talked for a while before Quinn went back to his book, while Katie and Cho continued to talk to each other.
After a couple of hours, Quinn looked at the time in his pocket watch and turned to the two girls, "Hey, the train will be reaching Hogwarts soon. We should change into our uniforms."
Both girls nodded, and they decided that one by one, they would change in their compartment, while the other two would wait outside and guard the compartment.
All three of them changed into their uniforms, and now they truly looked like first-year students. Unlike all older students, the first-year students' robes, pre-sorting didn't have house colors and crests. Their neckties and other clothing also lacked house colors.
Just before reaching Hogwarts, a voice echoed through the train, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."
Quinn's heart started beating faster, and when he looked around, he saw both Katie and Cho were looking nervous as they joined the crowd thronging the corridor.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Quinn shivered in the chilly night air but slowly felt himself warm up because of the charms spelled into each thread of his clothes.
Then a lamp came bobbing over the students' heads, and Quinn heard a booming voice. "First years! First years over here!"
Quinn saw a towering person, who he could only identify as the half-giant, Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys and Grounds.
"Come on, follow me — any more first years? Mind your step, now! First years follow me!" ordered Hagrid in his booming voice.
After a couple of minutes of following Hagrid, they finally saw the infamous Hogwarts' castle. The sight of the castle took Quinn's breath away. He had seen many sights during his travel, and he could confidently say that the illuminated Hogwarts' castle was one of the most mesmerizing sights he had seen. Even nature seemed to be helping the castle as a few moments later, the moon emerged from the clouds and bathed the castle with moonlight.
"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Quinn got on a boat and helped both Katie and Cho get on the boat. A fourth person didn't enter their boat.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads, and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.
Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oak front door.
"Everyone here?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
Quinn's heart slammed against his chest as he waited for the door to open.
-*-*-*-*-*-
[
A/N [1: I am LAZY, so I just used Katie and Cho as Quinn's companions on the train. Haven't thought of OC companions just yet.
]
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Student of Hogwarts - "Hogwarts Express has sentience."
Katie Bell - Student of Hogwarts - Extrovert - "Friends? I have a lot of friends."
Cho Chang - Student of Hogwarts - Nervous - Hogwarts is beautiful.
Trolly Lady - Employ of Honeydukes - "Sales are always good on Hogwarts Express"
-*-*-*-*-*-
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The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired lady in dark maroon robes stood there. She had a very stern face which reminded Quinn of his grandfather when he was serious. And Quinn knew who this lady was.
"The first years are here, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.??
The stern lady, now identified as Professor Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts' transfiguration teacher, nodded and spoke, "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She pulled the door wide to the entrance hall, which was absolutely enormous. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
The gaggle of first years followed behind Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They reached a doorway, and Quinn could hear the drone of hundreds of voices.
'That must be the Great Hall,' thought Quinn as Professor McGonagall lead them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. Quinn felt a little uncomfortable as the first years huddle together with each other a little too close than he was comfortable with. All of them were peering about nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said McGonagall as she spoke to the nervous first years. "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 crucial 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 your free time in your House common room."
She stood a little straighter, and with a hint on her face, she continued, "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 honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
Quinn resisted the urge to snort in McGonagall's face. The house point system was a rouse implemented by the school administration to keep the students in check through peer pressure. No student who cared about their social life wouldn't want to lose points and face the wrath of their fellow students, and even those who didn't care about what others thought trod lightly in fear of being bullied. All in all, it was a fantastic system that kept in check most people other than a few exceptions like the Weasley Twins.
Even Quinn wasn't an exception, as he didn't want to stand in the limelight among his peers. The life of popularity wasn't Quinn's cup of tea. He just wanted to learn magic in peace. And the popularity would hinder his ability to move around the castle, though the twins had no difficulty moving around, so maybe there was a workaround.
'Well, they do have the Marauder's map,' thought Quinn as he paid attention to what McGonagall was saying.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered on a few peoples' clothes, silently telling them to smarten themselves up.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." finished Professor McGonagall before leaving the chamber.
Quinn looked at his clothes, and with a slight use of magic, his clothes straightened up. He then turned to Katie and Cho, "Hey, how do I look?"
Both the girls looked over Quinn. He had jet-black hair and stone-grey eyes; he styled his hair in a simple-yet-neat Ivy League hairstyle. He had been taught to take good care of his body, so nothing felt out of place. He was tall for his age, and because of years of posture training, his body language exuded confidence. His clothes, even though a simple school uniform, looked good on him. Finally, Quinn was comfortable with his own skin, and that added another layer of charm.
Both girls nodded and gave him thumbs-up, and in return, Quinn complimented them.
"You two also look good. So, please don't be nervous. Everything will be fine, and every house would be happy to have guys. I am sure that you would get into the house you want." Quinn complimented the girls and said words of comfort to calm them down. He could see that most of the first-year were nervous being sorted in front of the whole school, and some didn't even know the sorting process.
Quinn's words did work to some extent as he saw both of them calm down a little, but there was still a little nervousness left which was natural knowing that they would be walking inside the hall while the entire school would be looking at them.
Then came the parade of ghosts, followed by screams from several students who had never seen a ghost. Quinn found ghosts interesting as they were conclusive evidence of the existence of the soul. A ghost was the imprint of the soul of a once-living wizard or witch. And as such, they were a type of spirit who are either afraid of death or have some powerful connection to the locations they haunt.
McGonagall returned to the chamber and shooed away the ghosts, "Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."
She turned to the students and commanded, "Now, form a line and follow me." With McGonagall in the lead, the new students exited the chamber, went back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
Quinn had read the books and had imagined what the Great Hall would look like, and he had seen the movies, but nothing matched the sight in front of him. The hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that floated in midair over four long tables. On the tables sat the entire schools' student body. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. McGonagall led the first years up here and came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Among the students, ghosts could be seen in their ghostly silver glow.
Quinn looked up at the ceiling and saw a glossy black ceiling dotted with stars. He could imagine Hermione Granger reciting the lines from the books, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
Removing his eyes from the mesmerizing ceiling, and looked ahead. He saw McGonagall silently placing a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a raggedy pointed wizard's hat.
Quinn waited, and then it happened, a mouth-like crack opened up in the hat, and it began singing.
[
I may be old and frayed
but don't let that betray you
stitched and bewitched
over a thousand years ago
The four greatest witches and wizards of the time
United by one single desire
The wish to inspire
and help young minds.
So, a place of education
was the creation.
The founders four
Helga Hufflepuff of valley broad
Rowena Ravenclaw from the glen
Godric Gryffindor of wild moor
Salazar Slytherin from the fen.
From these noble names
four houses were born.
Gryffindor, which houses the bold and brave,
Ravenclaw selected those filled with cleverness,
Hufflepuff welcomed the loyal who loved to toil
Slytherin chooses only those who are pure.
Their differences are what defined them
Together they stood, never to be divided
but what brought them together
soon sought to tear them apart.
Battles were fought
over Hogwarts
soon the time had come
for one to depart
So four became three
Which house will it be?
Put me on, and I will see.
] [Credits: Rowling_Games, Link in the paragraph comment.]
The entire hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
Murmurs went spreading through the first-year students like wildfire. Many were relieved to hear that they only had to put the hat on their head.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment, "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
Then started the sorting ceremony of the students. Quinn heard a few recognizable names, and their houses were the same as canon.
Marcus Belby, Eddie Carmichael, Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe went to Ravenclaw. While Katie Bell and Cormac McLaggen went to Gryffindor.
Finally came Quinn's turn. He was the last person to be sorted because Quinn's last name was West, and W was the last letter in this year's list, with no surnames from letters X, Y, and Z.
McGonagall looked at Quinn and announced, "West, Quinn." Students who had gotten bored because of the long process once again focused on the ceremony knowing Quinn was the last student.
Quinn climbed the shallow ladders and nodded to McGonagall before sitting down on the stool. The last thing Quinn saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was most of the students looking at him, and the moment the hat covered his eyes, Quinn closed his eyes and pulled up his occlumency shields to the limit.
"Hmm," said a little voice in his ear, "It has been quite a while since I had countered this level of resistance from occlumency shields, and that was when one of the previous headmasters had put me on his head. But, never I have seen this level of occlumency shields from a child of your age."
Quinn fought the urge to smile. He felt he had beat the infamous hat from entering his mind. But the next moment, the hat shattered his misunderstanding as now he heard the hat's voice inside his head, 'But, you see, when the founders created me, they truly went overboard, so Mr. West, your level of occlumency shields aren't enough.'
Quinn gritted his teeth as someone had once again entered his mind, and he couldn't do anything about it. He could remove the hat and rip it to threads with magic, but that would be the last thing Quinn wanted to do, so he just sat tight.
'Oh my, aren't you a little devil, Mr. West? So much talent for magic. I haven't seen anything like this, and I have been around for a thousand years. You don't use a wand and yet have this level of magical abilities. There was one who I can think of, but even he wasn't as ridiculous as you. Seeing the wand in your luggage shows that you are taking a different approach from him and everyone else.'
Quinn helplessly controlled his emotions as the hat went through his memories, 'Now, let's see where to put you. You are ready to showcase plenty of courage when it comes to the pursuit of magic. You have already shown hard work and tolerance by learning magic the way you have. The immense thirst for knowledge is evident from your personal library. Finally, you have some grand ambitions, dear child. The greatest wizard of all times.'
Quinn was getting impatient, so he just came out and said, "Put me in Ravenclaw so that we can end this. I am extremely uncomfortable with you on my head. Your mere presence in my mind displeases me like never before."
The hat laughed in his head and spoke, 'If that is what you wish for. Don't worry, Mr. West. Your secrets will remain safe with me. No one will ever know what I saw in your mind. Not even my creators, the founders would know if they appeared in front of me.'
The next moment the hat shouted to the entire hall, "RAVENCLAW!"
It took every single drop of Quinn's self-control to normally remove the hat from his head and not rip it from his head. He took a deep breath before moving to the Ravenclaw table and smiled when he reached the table that was clapping for him and congratulating him for being a Hatstall as the hat took some time to make his decision.
He sat down and turned to look at the high table while trying to calm down his turbulent emotions. He didn't like when his mind was invaded like now. It reminded him of the time when he started his lessons with Alan and how helpless he felt when Alan would just walk into this mind without batting an eye. He could still do it, but Quinn had learned to trust Alan and had gotten used to his teacher breaking into his mind, but the hat bought out emotions of the time when he didn't trust Alan.
On the plus side, Quinn's secrets were safe with the hat.
'If he didn't tattle on Voldemort's messed up memories, he won't divulge my secrets,' thought Quinn as he calmed himself down and slowly lifted the emotional aspect of occlumency to once again feel fully connected to his now calmed down emotions.
Quinn looked around the Ravenclaw and thought about his decision to join Ravenclaw. Even if Quinn said that he was okay with going to any of the four houses, Quinn preferred if he didn't get sorted to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. In Gryffindor, he would be in the eye of trouble in the future. With Hufflepuff, Quinn didn't think he would have much privacy because of the houses' teamwork attribute.
The remaining two options were Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Quinn had thought hard about where he wanted to end up, and Ravenclaw was his final decision. Slytherin would have been alright, but Quinn was afraid that he would instantly gain a negative reputation among the other three houses. And, if someone got suspicious of what he was doing, they would immediately categorize it as dark, and it took little to blow things out of proportion. Even inside the Slytherin, blood purists were always in power, and in the future, Voldemort would start recruiting mini death eaters from there, and Quinn didn't want to face the harassment known as recruitment.
So, Quinn came to a logical conclusion to join the house of bookworms who had their heads into books and where he could operate in peace with no politics, disturbances, negative reputation, and needless nosy people. He just needed to blend in as your average Ravenclaw, which was too easy for Quinn.
A loud clinking of cutlery broke Quinn from his thoughts and looked at the head table where he saw Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome!" he started. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Quinn wondered if the strange words in Dumbledore's speech were Hogwarts house-elves names, as the moment he said those words, food appeared across the tables. Various dishes like roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and peppermint humbugs were cooked for all to indulge.
Quinn's grooming triggered, and he began eating with impeccable table manners. Gone were the days when Quinn used to feel stiffed while eating with strict table manners. Now, he felt right at home when eating like this. Quinn a little of everything and then took part in idle banter with his new housemates.
A well-fed Quinn looked around, and his eyes fell upon the High table. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. McGonagall was talking to Dumbledore. He immediately recognized Snape dressed in all black, and Quinn felt Snape was lucky to look like his movie actor rather than his book description. He moved his eyes to another teacher and saw Quirinus Quirrell without a turban and was currently wearing a wizard's hat.
'If I remember correctly, he is currently a Muggle Studies Professor. Poor guy would give into Voldemort and agree to house Voldemort's soul in his body,' thought Quinn. He saw Quirrell happily chatting with a squat little woman who wore a patched hat over her flyaway hair, who Quinn could identify as Pomona Sprout, the herbology professor. Quinn figured out the names of the other professors with the help of a senior.
When the desserts disappeared from the tables, Dumbledore stood up from his chair and asked for the student's attention in the hall. He cleared his throat before speaking, "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, also asks me to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."
He pointed at Rolanda Hooch and continued, "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch."
The dinner ended with Dumbledore urging students to stand up for the school song. After which, Quinn followed behind the Ravenclaw Prefect with the other first-years to the Ravenclaw Tower. Quinn made sure to memorize the path they took, as he would need it from tomorrow onwards.
The entrance to the Ravenclaw common room was on the west side of Hogwarts. At the top of a spiral staircase was a door without a doorknob or keyhole. But there was a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle that asked a riddle for gaining entry to the common room; if they answer incorrectly, they must wait for someone else who gets it right.
The Prefect explained the system to the first years and then led them inside. The common was a circular room with arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks and a midnight blue carpet covered in stars, which reflected onto the domed ceiling. The room was furnished with tables, chairs, and bookcases, and by the door leading up to the dormitories stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw made of white marble.
Before the Prefect sent them off to their dorms, he told them the roles to be followed while in the common room and the dormitories. He closed with, "You will find your luggage in your rooms, and please make sure to store the clothes that you want to be cleaned in the cupboards provided to you because any clothes in your trunk or luggage won't be taken for cleaning."
Three people rather than the five-person arrangement in the Gryffindor shared a room in the Ravenclaw dormitories.
Quinn found his luggage on his assigned bed. He looked at his two roommates, who looked quite nervous, so he broke the ice.
"Hey, my name is Quinn West. What about you guys?" he asked with a smile on his face.
The other two looked at each other before one of them spoke, "Hi, I am Eddie Carmichael." Then both of them looked at the third boy in the room, who stuttered through his introduction. "M-My name is Marcus Belby."
Quinn nodded and spoke, "Excellent, Carmichael and Belby. We would be sharing this dorm for the rest of the year, so if you guys have any problems, don't hesitate to ask. Now, I am sure all of us are quite tired, and I would very much like to sleep, so let's continue in the morning, alright." Quinn directed the conversation, and the other two could only nod along.
Quinn made himself on his new bed and closed his eye, and his last thought before falling asleep was about tomorrow.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC -Ravenclaw - "I wonder how many riddles does the Eagle know?"
The Hat - Hat - "This year's song was exquisite. Truly spectacular."
-*-*-*-*-*-
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2 September 1990 was a Sunday, which meant that there were no classes, and the first years were free to roam the castle. Quinn got up the next day, and in the morning, and after completing his morning routine, he took off to explore the castle but not before visiting the Great Hall for breakfast.
Hogwarts Castle was a large, seven-story lofty building supported by magic. It had a hundred and forty-two (142) staircases throughout its many towers and turrets and deep dungeons. The castle was built in the late Early Middle Ages (c. 993) by a wizard architect and the four most celebrated wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin.??
Quinn started from the Great Hall and then explored the castle for the entire day but could only cover the ground and the first floor. The castle was so large that Quinn wasn't able to move past the first floor. And Quinn was planning to memorize the entire castle. Quinn would live here for the next seven years, and because of that, he wanted to use the castle and the accompanying property as his new mindscape. He knew the transition from the West Manor to the Hogwarts castle would be gradual and a lengthy process. But, Quinn was confident that he would be able to explore enough of the castle in a year or two to build a working model in his mind. And, who knew what level of detail could he accomplish in seven years.
Quinn returned to his dorm just before dinnertime and freshened up by taking a shower. When he exited the shower, Quinn saw Eddie Carmichael in the room.
"Hey, Carmichael. Do you want to go to Great Hall together?" asked Quinn as he exited the bathroom.
Eddie looked relieved at the offer and spoke, "Yeah, I forgot the way to the Great Hall. It would be great if we could go together."
Quinn chuckled and offered, "Don't worry, I will go with you till you get comfortable. Hogwarts is a confusing place."
As the two climbed down the dormitory stairs, Eddie asked, "Where have you been the entire day. I don't think I saw you in the dorms today."
"Yeah, I didn't return to the dorm all day. I was exploring the castle. There were a lot of things to cover, and I lost track of time," replied Quinn as he guided Eddie from the Ravenclaw tower to the Great Hall. "What about you? What did you do today?"
Eddie shrugged and said, "Played a lot of Gobstones, went to the Quidditch field to see some of the older students flying on brooms, and talked to some of the older students about Hogwarts."
"Really? Tell me about it..."
When they reached the Great Hall, a lot of students were already seated. Quinn and Eddie found Marcus Belby sitting at the Ravenclaw table, already eating. Both the guys stopped just before reaching him.
You see, when it came to food, Marcus Belby could be compared to Ron Weasley. They both saw Marcus shoving food down his gullet without care. Eddie looked at Quinn, his eyes asking what to do, almost begging him not to sit next to their roommate. Quinn was of a similar mind, so neither wanted to sit next to Marcus while he ate.
"Let's just sit opposite to him. This way, he won't feel bad, and there would be plenty of distance between us," offered Quinn. Eddie nodded, and both of them turned back to go around the table and sat opposite Marcus.
"Hey, Belby, how have you been today? You seem to be enjoying the food," greeted Quinn and opened up the conversation, and the last sentence caused Eddie to stifle a laugh.
Marcus looked up and spoke with food still in his mouth, "Fwud wis ghrathe."
Quinn didn't understand a word that came out of Marcus' mouth, but he still spoke as he put food on his plate, "Oh yeah? That is great." It surprised Quinn that the sight of Marcus didn't erase his appetite, but Quinn was too hungry.
Eddie continued the conversation at the table, "Professor Flitwick would be coming to the common room today. He will be giving us the timetable and talk with us before we start school tomorrow."
"That is great. I heard Professor Flitwick is Britain's most knowledgeable Charms master. Plus, before he started teaching, he was Duelling Champion with the title of Master duelist. He has been at Hogwarts for around twenty years or so," supplied Quinn as they talked about the upcoming event.
After some more idle chatting, Quinn became silent and concentrated on eating. With today's exploration and Quinn's usual habit of emptying his magical core every day, he needed a significant amount of calories to meet his dietary needs, so he was quite hungry and needed food in his body.
- (Scene Break) -
After dinner, all the first-year Ravenclaws gathered around the common room to meet Flitwick. On the decided time, Filius Flitwick entered the Ravenclaw common room and greeted the gathered people in his squeaky voice, "Good Evening, children. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
Filius Flitwick, half-goblin and half-human, had a short stature because of goblin lineage. He tottered to an empty chair and sat on it before asking the students to gather around him. Quinn sat on a chair that was a little distance away from the diminutive professor but at a distance where Quinn could clearly listen to him. Many students opted to sit on the floor to be closeby to the head of the house. They were already acting like little Ravenclaws not willing to miss out on anything that a teacher said.
"I hope all of you have settled down in your dorms and have no problems with your living arrangements because if you do, please do come to me. It is my duty to fix any problems you have, so don't hesitate to share any of your problems," said Flitwick to the new students, trying to get them comfortable.
"Now first, let me introduce myself. My name is Filius Flitwick. I teach the subject Charms. This means I will be teaching you the wonders of all kinds of charms," Flitwick showed a toothy grin seeing the bright-eyed children when he mentioned charms, "But to you children, I am also your head of the house. You will be under my wings during the time you are at Hogwarts, so I once again I say that please don't hesitate and come to me with any problem."
He took a pause before speaking, "My doors are always opened to a ravenclaw in need."
Then he took out his wand and gave it a swing for the Ravenclaw House symbol to appear in the air. The students ooh-ed in awe at the sight of the magic. Even Quinn was mildly surprised.
'Hmm, a light-based magic to project an image in the air,' reflected Quinn as he looked at the glowing house symbol. Quinn wasn't surprised because he hadn't seen anything like this before. The concept behind the magic was simple enough and was a magic from the same line as the Lumos spell, but a lot more complex than the Wand-Lighting charm. The reason behind Quinn's surprise was the detail in the projection image.
'I can see the individual feathers in the raven, and the image is three-dimensional with color grading and shadows,' thought Quinn as he admired the show of magic. Quinn could also project an image in the air, but it would lack the detail present in Flitwick's work.
Flitwick giggled as he took in the joy of his new charges and said, "You all were sorted in Ravenclaw, so I think it is appropriate for you to know about the origins of the house."
With a swish of his wand, the Ravenclaw symbol changed into a woman wearing medieval clothing. Quinn looked past everyone and saw that the white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. He could see the resemblance between the two.
Flitwick presented a question to the students, "Does anyone of you recognize this lady?" And, every single one of the students, including Quinn, raised their hands.
Flitwick pointed at Quinn and asked him to answer, "Please tell us all your name before answering the question."
Quinn stood up from his chair and answered, "Quinn West. The lady is one of the four founders, Rowena Ravenclaw. She, along with the other three founders, established Hogwarts."
Flitwick enthusiastically clapped while bouncing on his chair and said, "Three points to Ravenclaw! As Mr. West said, Rowena Ravenclaw was one of the four founders, and she created the Hogwarts' house of Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws such as yourselves are characterized by their wit, learning, wisdom, acceptance, intelligence, and creativity. Lady Rowena sought all these qualities in her students, so Ravenclaw students display a number of these traits. I myself was a Ravenclaw during my time at Hogwarts as a student."
"Rowena Ravenclaw prized learning above all else – and so do we. Unlike the other houses, which all have concealed entrances to their common rooms, we don't have that. Ours has no handle but an enchanted bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. When you rap on the door, this knocker will ask you a question, and if you can answer it correctly, you are allowed in. This simple barrier has kept out everyone but Ravenclaws for nearly a thousand years."
The last sentence did cause some first-years to worry, but Flitwick assured them, "I can see some of you who are scared by having to answer the eagle's questions but don't worry. Ravenclaws learn quickly, and you will soon enjoy the challenges the door sets. It is not unusual to find twenty people standing outside the common room door, all trying to work out the answer to the day's question together. This is a great way to meet fellow Ravenclaws from other years and learn from them – although it is a bit annoying if you have forgotten your Quidditch robes or books and need to get in and out in a hurry. In fact, I would advise you to triple-check your bag for everything you need before leaving Ravenclaw Tower." Flitwick was laughing hysterically by the end. He truly was as eccentric as people made him out to be.
Flitwick disappeared the projection and continued, "Sometimes our pursuit of knowledge may come of a being as bookish, and my peers at my time at Hogwarts as a student called me a bookworm among other things." When Flitwick said this, many students showed sad faces as a lot of them had been called similar words.
Flitwick smiled gently and spoke a little louder, "But don't let any of those words deter you. They are just jealous of our knowledge and wisdom and say mean things because we have things they don't have. So, be proud of being smart, and don't feel embarrassed by your love of knowledge. Wear it like a badge of honor. Know that if Rowena Ravenclaw was alive, she would have chosen you all from all the students. Be proud because you are the smartest of the bunch."
He stood upon his chair and exclaimed, "Always remember this; Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure! Repeat after me; Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure!"
"WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE!" Every student in the common room repeated after Flitwick, and the collective voices of the students sound like a war chant. Even Quinn chanted the infamous quote with his fellow students and could feel the confidence that Flitwick given many students. It made Quinn think that Flitwick could have a great career as a motivational speaker.
After everybody calmed down, and Flitwick was sitting on his chair rather than standing on it, he took out a matchstick-sized stack of parchments and waved his wand above the stack, and the stack enlarged to a standard stack of parchments. With another wave, a sheet each flew to every student in the room.
Quinn gracefully received the sheet and read it. On the parchment was a timetable.
"These are your timetable for the year. You will all follow this schedule every week till the end of the year. Please note and remember the room numbers as they won't change and I would recommend that you reach your class five minutes before time," said Flitwick as Quinn read the timetable and he was surprised to see that in a day he only had to attend two to three hours of classes. Quinn calculated, and the time allotted to classroom studies was only fourteen (14) hours a week, fifteen (15) if you added the weekly flying lesson with Madam Hooch.
Quinn was totally down with this schedule, as it would give him more time to study magic on his own. He was sure that the workload would increase from the third year onwards, but he would worry about that when the time came.
Quinn looked up when he heard Flitwick clap his hand and asking the students to look at him. "If you would turn your sights to the library in the common room." Quinn and the rest looked at the library present inside the Ravenclaw common room, a feature unique to the Ravenclaw common room.
"The library has many books that would help you increase your knowledge. I am in charge of selecting the books on the shelves of the library. I constantly keep note of the progress of every class that is taught in Hogwarts. So I know what is being taught to every student of the school, because of that I place complementary and supplementary material related to the topics currently being taught in your classes in our library. For example, if first-year students are learning how to brew the Sleeping Draught in Potions class. Then I would place books related to the Draught and its ingredients in our library for students to read. Then there are my weekly and monthly recommendations, which are not related to the course material but are always an interesting read. There is also a rule that the books often change on the shelves of our library, to keep those who want to learn on their feet, so even if you can't read them, please note the titles, as you would be able to find all these books in the Hogwarts library."
Of all the things Flitwick had said today, this interested Quinn the most. Supplementary material and additional reading were always in better understanding things. Quinn made a note to take full advantage of the in-house library.
At the end of the talk, Flitwick asked, "Now, other than Mr. West, who gained Ravenclaw their first points of the year, congratulations to you, Mr. West -- all the first years, please introduce yourselves. I want to match the names to the faces, and it would also help your housemates to know your names."
Quinn looked at Eddie and said, "Yeah~."
Then Quinn paid attention to his year mates introducing themselves. Quinn too wanted to match faces to names. It would not be well if he could not recall his housemates' names.
Before sleeping that night, Quinn wrote a letter to his family. He described his first day at Hogwarts, his sorting ceremony, what he found in the castle, his living arrangements, among other things. Sealed the letter in an envelop and put it into his dorm's desk drawer, ready to be mailed tomorrow via a school owl.
- (Scene Break) -
During Quinn's first week at Hogwarts, he attended all the lessons and performed all the tasks taught to him. They were easy or him, and like the typical Ravenclaw, he was among the first ones to complete the practicals. Actually, he was the first every time, but he jusst didn't raise his hand to show that he was done with a task.
Unlike Hermione Granger, he didn't jump to every answer that the professors asked. He only answered the questions that were too easy or when nobody had the answer to the question. It did cause some teachers to call out Quinn to answer questions which didn't bother him as Quinn knew all the answers, and because he didn't jump to answer all the questions, he wasn't tagged as a Know-It-All.
Because Quinn already knew all the stuff in the classes, he would efficiently make use of his time by sneakily completing all his homework in class time itself, so he had more time to himself. He even completed his potions homework in Snape's class itself, which Quinn thought deserved at least fifty (50) points.
But, Snape did pay attention to Quinn because his potions were way better than the rest of the class, and by a huge margin. When Quinn told Snape that he had learned about potions at home, he just sneered but said nothing as this practice wasn't uncommon for magical households.
But Quinn didn't know that Snape was now paying extra attention to him. Even though learning potions before coming to school wasn't uncommon, the quality of potions that Quinn brewed was not common at all, especially for someone his age.
Even the other professors remembered Quinn fairly well, and he was among the students that stood out from his batch; Quinn's practical work was just too good for a student who had been in school for a single week. But because Quinn did nothing extra other than what was asked, he was just seen as a very talented child and not the freak of nature that Quinn was. Plus, being a Ravenclaw helped Quinn's image as Ravenclaws were always good at academics.
Quinn had no idea what was going through his professors' minds because he was too busy with another problem.
A major problem.
Quinn's current capabilities were on the level of a fourth-year student. His level of ability to focus magic was stuck at his current level for a half year and had improved little. So, he had begun working at more efficiency and speed of casting, hoping that it would help, but nothing particularly helped. He did everything to improve what he already knew and could do with his level of focus, but his focus didn't improve by much.
This was the reason that Quinn was excited about turning eleven and getting a wand. But both of those events caused him disappointment.
The reason why a child started attending a magical school at age eleven was that the magic inside a child switched from a turbulent state to a state of growth. A person with magic entered a time of exponential growth from age eleven that continued to age seventeen, and a magical's ability to focus magic would increase naturally. The ability to focus magic would increase even if they didn't use magic, and if they worked hard during this time, they would reap added benefits.
The term 'Magic is Muscle,' applied heavily from ages eleven to seventeen as a person saw the most growth in this time period, and that applied to the ability to focus magic. But, nothing happened when Quinn turned eleven, there was no jump in focus for him. Time passed, but nothing changed in his magic.
Then he looked forward to getting a wand. He wanted a wand to aid him by supplementing his focus, but it turned out that if he used a wand, he would become dependent on it, and it would take an exponential amount of work to perform focusless magic. Now, his wand was encased in a block of wood and locked inside a room in a suitcase.
But, Quinn was forgetting an important event. A date that came every year, and after so many years Quinn had forgotten about it, but this year it was going to be different. Quinn didn't know it but this day would be a turning point in his life.
-*-*-*-*-*-
[
A/N [1: Just to clear a confusion that I have been noticing popping in the comments. Quinn West is one (1) year older than Harry Potter. The current year is 1990. Harry Potter joins Hogwarts in 1991. The Weasley twins and Cedric are in the second (2nd) year right now. Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley would enter Hogwarts when Quinn is in his third (3rd) year.
]
Quinn West - MC- Hogwarts (Ravenclaw) - Worried about his magic.
Eddie Carmichael - Ravenclaw - Is bad with directions.
Filius Flitwick - Charms Professor - "You may have heard that I was a Duelling Champion!", said Flitwick, drawing his wand on misbehaving students.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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The working days of Quinn's first week passed, and the weekend arrived. Quinn sat on his bed, reading a book on Magic Theory he had borrowed from the Hogwarts library. Since the wand incident, Quinn had been growing increasingly worried about the progression of his magic. He wanted to improve his ability to focus his magic, but as nothing changed with turning eleven (11), he looked for alternate methods but had little success finding a way.
'My current level of focus is fine for this year and maybe even the next year, but after that, I would be in trouble if I can't improve my ability to mold and focus magic,' thought Quinn as he read the book in bed.??
Quinn sighed as he failed to find a method in this book as well. He closed the book, and after a mental session of occlumency practice and making sure that his magical core was drained, he went to sleep.
When the clock turned eleven (11), Quinn was already gone to sleep. Then the clock turned to twelve (12), and the date changed to 8th of September. Around that time, a change started in Quinn's body. Over the night, the magic in Quinn's went through a qualitative change. The unstable nature of magic in Quinn's body gradually changed to a state seen in the usual eleven (11) year old child.
On the morning of 8th of September, Quinn woke up at his usual time. As he sat up and stretched his arms, the duvet slid off him and folded itself. The pillows behind him fluffed themselves, and when he got up from his bed, the bedsheet fixed itself. Of course, this was all Quinn's doing. He liked to start off his day by using magic.
Standing in front of a sink, Quinn brushed his teeth, and after using his hands to hold the brush, Quinn used magic to maneuver the toothbrush to reach hard places with ease. A fun fact about toothpaste from the magical world; it was mixed with a teeth-cleaning potion. There were a few teeth cleaning charms, but none were as effective as using a toothbrush and toothpaste.
As Quinn exited the attached washroom, he just happened to see Marcus' open trunk tipping over from the top of his cupboard. At this rate, Marcus' things were going to fall out of his trunk, with the trunk itself falling down on the floor.
Quinn's eyes widened as he instinctively raised a hand, "Oh shit-!" A split-second later, Quinn's magic kicked in, and Quinn rushed to at least save the trunk from falling, but the next second, Quinn was shocked to see the sight in front of him.
Instead of just the trunk floating in the air, all of Marcus' things were floating in the air. Quinn, in stunned silence, looked at floating things from his spot. Among the things floating, Quinn saw Marcus' winter clothing, thirty individual pieces of Gobstone that had escaped from their pouch, and many of Marcus' personal belongings.
Quinn was stunned because he hadn't been able to exert influence over these many objects before, but currently, he was using magic to keep the things in mid-air.
'This isn't accidental magic,' thought Quinn as he slowly stepped closer to the floating things. Quinn had his fair share of accidental magic, so he knew what it felt like. It was instinctive use of magic with no conscious control over magic's actions.
But, Quinn had complete control over all these objects. He could move them any way he liked. Then Quinn remembered something, and with a look, the curtains around the poster beds of his roommates fell down to block their view.
Quinn returned his attention to the floating stuff, and the next second, all of Marcus' stuff repacked itself into his trunk. Quinn levitated the trunk back to its position above the cupboard.
Quinn smiled and thought, 'I know what is going on.' With a smile, he turned to Eddie's desk, and with the use of magic, Eddie's desk drawer opened, and a single Gobstone shot towards Quinn, who caught it, and he set it onto the floor.
Quinn took a deep breath to calm down his nerves, focused his magic, and pushed it towards the Gobstone. The next second the Gobstone transfigured into a cat. Quinn smiled as he put the transfigured cat into a full-body bind before it could hiss at him.
Quinn, with a smile, picked up the magically bound cat to observe it.
"Yes, yes, yes! It finally happened!" exclaimed Quinn as he moved the cat around to check all the detail. Transfiguration of an inorganic object to an organic being with a different size and weight was at the fifth-year level.
Quinn pumped his fists in the air as he returned the cat back into a Gobstone.
"My focus increased overnight!" said Quinn, and after the excitement and elation passed, Quinn began thinking about the reason behind it.
He thought back to yesterday. If he did something different, something that could trigger the change in his body. But, nothing came to mind.
After having breakfast, Quinn went to the library to think in peace. He wanted to know the reason behind this change. His magic had changed, and Quinn wanted to know everything about it.
After spending hours in the library surrounded by books about Magic theory, magical biology, and any other books that could provide him answers, Quinn couldn't find anything other than that his magic had entered the period of growth.
'But, why did my magic enter this period now, after two months of me turning eleven (11)?' Quinn sighed as he climbed the stairs of his dorm. It wasn't that the change happened precisely on a person's birthday, and it could occur anytime between before or after a fortnight of a person's eleventh birthday. But two months didn't make sense.
Quinn took a shower to relax, and when he came out, he saw Eddie and Marcus were playing in the room. They were pretending to be swordsmen and were using rolls of newspapers as swords.
Quinn chuckled as he looked at his two roommates, "What are you guys doing?"
Marcus spoke as he battled Eddie with his newspaper roll, "We were waiting for you. Do you want to play Gobstones?"
Quinn thought about the offer, 'Well, it would take my mind away from the change.' Quinn nodded and replied, "Sure, give me a minute. I will be down there."
Both of them nodded, and Eddie dropped his newspaper roll on the floor before bolting down to the common room. Quinn sighed as he looked at the newspaper on the floor and picked it up. Then his eyes caught the date of the newspaper, and then things clicked in his mind.
"Ah~, that's why it happened today," Quinn said as everything made sense to him. "Of course, it would happen today, on September 8th," Quinn sighed as he threw the newspaper in the trash.
8th of September was the day he found himself in this body. It was also on 8th of September that he had triggered his magic for the first time. He had kept track of the day for a couple of years, but with time he had forgotten about it. Now, on the very same day, his magic had gone through a qualitative change.
'My coming to this world must have pushed the changed to this date,' Quinn thought as he tried to place his thoughts on this matter. Quinn also entertained the theory that even though it had been only seven (7) since he had come to this world, his body was still eleven (11) years old.
"Body, mind, and soul; three parts of a being," quoted Quinn as he felt the path ahead clear up. Quinn felt a weight has been lifted off his chest and looked around the room with a smile.
"Who knows, it might happen again when I turn fifteen (15)," Quinn said in optimism as he thought what would happen at the eleventh anniversary of his coming to this world.
Quinn felt the need to use his magic this very moment, so he looked around the room and closed his eyes, took a deep breath. With a wave of magic from Quinn, things around the room began moving, and multiple different magic began showing their effects. When the things stopped moving the magic stopped working, the dorm room looked like it had been freshly cleaned, and all the furniture from the beds to the cupboards looked brand new.
"If anyone asks, I will just give credit to the elves', shrugged Quinn, but then he laughed as he climbed down the dorm stairs, "Though the elves might not be happy about me cleaning the room."
Quinn stepped into the common room, and with a broad grin, he said, "Time to destroy people in Gobstones!"
- (Scene Break) -
The very next day, Quinn began drafting a medium-term plan spanning two years. He climbed down into his suitcase and stepped into the library.
On the paper in front of him, Quinn wrote what he wanted to do before entering his third year.
"Completing Hogwarts education with practical usage," wrote Quinn as the basic goal of his two-year plan. Quinn wanted to cover Hogwarts' cover subjects and the electives he was interested in; Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, and Astronomy. He wasn't interested in Divination and Muggle Studies and wasn't sure if he wanted to pursue Care of Magical Creatures; he wasn't thrilled at the idea of being close to magical beasts.
Next was "Supplementing all the Hogwarts' subjects with knowledge from around the world." Quinn's approach had always been to expand his knowledge from reading books from all around the world. From his experience of learning the first four years of Hogwarts' curriculum, he knew the curriculum was missing several things that text from other schools could supplement. It was the same with every school and region in the world. Everybody was missing something, but at the same time, everybody had something to offer as well.
The third goal was "Learning new branches of magic that were taught in other schools." There were other branches of magic like Transmutation, Illusion magic, Dark Arts, Alchemy, Elemental magic, Warding, Soul magic, Healing magic, Abjuration, Body magic, to name a few. Quinn wanted to learn these magics to the N.E.W.T level or equivalent.
Coming to mind arts, he wanted to set some goals. Quinn decided he wanted to build the highest level of occlumency defense in his current system. He wanted to make sure that his defense would stand firm against a master occlumens, plus he wanted to increase the immersion level on his memories. On the legilimency front, he wanted to become a master legilimens by the end of the second year; Quinn was planning to use the entire school body to explore the insides of a mind.
Quinn knew he needed to be ready for the year when the Basilisk roamed the castle. Quirrelmort didn't scare Quinn; he just needed to ignore the professor and not poke his nose in the matter. Quinn would decide if he wanted to make a play for the Philosopher's Stone when the time came. Currently, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go against a professor of defense against dark arts with a master of dark arts stuck to his head.
After Quinn decided his plans for the next two years, he thought about the immediate plan. With Quinn's increased focus, he wanted a place to practice magic, and the best place for doing so would be the Room Of Requirement. Quinn hadn't gone to the seventh floor because he was too busy getting used to the new lifestyle at Hogwarts, but now that he had spent a week at the school, he was ready to go to the mysterious room.
It was time to the greatest room in Hogwarts known to Quinn.
- (Scene Break) -
On Monday, Quinn had a History of Magic class at nine (9) o'clock in the morning, and after that, he had two hours of free time and one hour of lunch. Quinn decided to skip lunch and spend three hours in the Room Of Requirement.
The room was located on the seventh floor in the left corridor of the Hogwarts castle. Quinn looked at the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet. He recalled the method to enter the Room Of Requirement and walked past the tapestry three times, thinking about a place to practice magic.
Immediately after the third time, a door appeared opposite the tapestry. Quinn, with a beating heart, pushed the doors open and entered a spacious room. In one corner of the room, he saw dummies to practice charms and jinxes. In another corner were objects of different shapes, sizes, and materials to practice transfiguration. He also a potion workstation for brewing potions. He was also surprised to see a comfy chair for sitting while practicing mind arts.
Quinn walked around the room and saw the details in the room. He found that the room had everything he wanted, but Quinn also noted that the room specifically provided things related to the magic he wanted to practice today.
On the transfiguration corner, he saw a sizeable amount of mercury, Quinn had planned to study how mercury reacted to transfiguration, and the room had read that from his mind and provided him with mercury. On the charms' corner, he saw a fast-moving golden snitch as he had imagined wanting a snitch to practice the Slowing Charm. On the potions workstation were copper cauldrons and the tools he needed to brew a Befuddlement Draught.
"The room provides what I need," Quinn dropped his book bag on the comfy chair and walked to one of the dummies and casted an Exploding charm (Bombarda) on it, and the dummy exploded, and Quinn smiled when the destroyed dummy didn't disappear or fix itself.
Quinn was happy to see the damaged dummy not because he enjoyed seeing the mutilated dummy but because the room had even picked up on the finer details of his request. Quinn had also wished to practice his mending charm, so he requested the dummies to stay damaged.
Quinn swept an eye over the broken pieces and levitated them near the dummy. He began casting several simultaneous Mending charms on the dummy, and before he knew it, the dummy was like it never exploded.
Quinn nodded before his smile disappeared, and he said to himself, "Let's get to work." He removed his robe and levitated it to the chair and thus began the repeated explosion of dummies. Quinn experimented with the strength and accuracy of the Explosion charm. For Quinn, there was no difference between Bombarda and Bombarda Maxima as he didn't rely on chants and understood the essence of magic before practicing it.
When Quinn used the Explosion charm, he was the one who decided the configuration of the spell and not some words in Latin. Quinn decided when to explode the whole dummy or when to only take its head off. Quinn tried simultaneous casting and continuous casting of the charm and how it would affect him. Quinn found that he was at an acceptable level in continuous casting but lacked efficiency while he casted simultaneously.
In between explosions, Quinn experimented with the Mending charm; Quinn checked if it could mend the dummy if he completely eradicated a part of the dummy; the answer was no. The Mending charm could only fix the available parts. He also found that if he trapped one of the parts, then the Mending charm would mend the object and leave the trapped if it couldn't get to it. There was also a distance restriction, where if a piece of the broken object was farther than a certain distance, then the Mending charm would ignore the part.
After half an hour and hundred Exploding charms, Quinn decided he had enough practice with the Exploding charm and moved on to the potions part of the room to brew a Befuddlement Draught. Befuddlement Draught was a potion that caused the drinker to become belligerent and reckless.
He donned his gloves and protective goggles and got to brew the potion. It took an hour to brew the potion. Quinn withdrew his potion notes and began preparing the ingredient as he experimented for best efficiency. After starting the brewing, Quinn took out a stack of paper and started documenting every change in the potion, cross-referencing it with listed changes. Quinn observed his potions with an almost obsessive hawk-like gaze. Quinn had learned that some stages of different potions required constant attention, and not many books mentioned those stages, so Quinn had made it his goal to document every change of every potion he learned.
After an hour of careful brewing and close observation, Quinn had ten standard doses of the dark acid green high-grade Befuddlement Draught. Quinn poured potion in vials and packed three vials to send to Elliot at home, and packed five for long-term storage, and the last two doses, he was going to use on the stuck up Prefect, who scoffed while telling Quinn and his roommates that they couldn't Gobstones in the common room.
"Let's see if he can still have a stick up his butt after I give him this," said Quinn with an evil smirk on his face.
Finally, Quinn stepped into the Transfiguration corner to work on mercury. Mercury was a poisonous metal, so with the utmost care, Quinn transfigured the given material into different things. He also boiled and froze the mercury and then transfigured it at those temperatures. Quinn tried to turn into different materials like other metals, rubber, wood, and many other organic and inorganic material. He even turned small droplets of mercury into tiny ants and relatively bigger cockroaches. He turned larger amounts of mercury into more complex things. Experimented with turning a drop of mercury into a much larger block of stone and tried to shrink down a glass of mercury into a small earthworm.
After working for a quarter of an hour on transfiguration, Quinn rested for fifteen before diving into his mind. At a distance from the West Manor, Quinn began building the Hogwarts replica. Unlike the West Manor, where Quinn had built the exterior before turning to the interiors, his current approach was going to be much different. Quinn was going to construct Hogwarts, one room at a time. For example, Quinn was going to start at the ground floor and then move up. His first room was going to be the Great Hall, and then he would expand to the rest of the ground floor. Quinn sat on the comfy chair, and for the rest of the time, he worked on his mindscape.
Fifteen minutes before one o'clock in the afternoon, Quinn exited the Room Of Requirement and headed to the defense of dark arts class while humming in a good mood.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Found RoR - Guess who has the best secret base in the world.
Eddie Carmicheal - Ravenclaw - Currently obsessed with Gobstones
-*-*-*-*-*-
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On an ordinary day, Quinn was studying in peace at the library. He was reading a book that expanded upon the resonance between prime numbers in the field of layered rune cluster structuring. It was a sixth-year book that intersected the subjects of Arithmancy and Runes. It was a fascinating book that Quinn found in Flitwick's weekly recommendation.
"Hey, Quinn." Quinn heard a voice calling out to him. He looked up and found his year mate Katie Bell standing in front of him. Quinn put on a smile and greeted her, "Ah, Ms. Bell. How are you? I haven't seen you since before the Christmas break." They were already in January, so it had been nearly a month since Quinn had talked to Katie.??
"I am fine, thank you. May I sit? I have a favor to ask of you," said Katie, and Quinn motioned her to sit.
"If I can help, I would be glad to help," smiled Quinn, "So, what is the favor you want to ask?" Quinn had slowly built a friendly reputation among his housemates and the few people he knew outside of his house.
Katie looked nervous as she played with her fingers. She waited for a moment before asking, "Do you remember the Transfiguration homework that Professor McGonagall gave us two weeks ago?"
Quinn nodded, urging her to continue, "I kind of got busy and haven't made much progress on it... So, I was wondering if you could help me with it."
"Oh, my! What happened to the outgoing Katie Bell?" chuckled Quinn as he looked at the embarrassed Katie. He paused for a moment before saying, "You don't have to be nervous, Ms. Bell. I am your friend and a Ravenclaw at that. You don't have to be nervous when asking me about homework or studies. I would be happy to help you."
Katie looked visibly relieved at Quinn's words and sighed in relief, "Oh my god! I was so nervous. I ended up spending all my time at the Quidditch field watching the Gryffindor team and hanging out with them."
Quinn chuckled before warning, "Okay, now I did say that I would help, but I would only supply you with a list of things that you have to cover in that assignment and where you can find those things. You still would have to read all it and write it down in your own words."
Katie shook her head, "It is alright. I would appreciate any help."
Quinn nodded and took out a sheet of paper and split it in half. On the split paper, Quinn wrote the topics that one needed to cover for the assignment, then he mentioned the books and the chapters in the books where Katie could find the points. He mentioned the chapter, so she didn't have to flip through whole books, given that she was short on time.
After finishing writing, he slid the paper to Katie's side and said, "If you read everything on there, you would be able to complete your assignment in no time."
Katie looked at the paper weirdly as she was used to parchment instead of paper. After holding the sheet of paper and feeling the thinness of it, she read the contents. Her jaw dropped when she read it and gawked, "You remember the chapter number?!"
Quinn shrugged and gave the one excuse that always worked when it came to academics, "What... I am a Ravenclaw. Plus, I revised the assignment yesterday, so I remember it. No big deal." Quinn lied through his teeth; he had completed the assignment the day McGonagall had assigned it and hadn't even touched the parchment it was written on, much less revise it.
Katie nodded dumbly and spoke, "Anyway, thanks for this. This would make my work so much easier. Seriously, thank you."
Quinn shook his head and spoke, "Don't mention it. You can come to me if you ever have a problem with studying. I will be glad to help, but please don't tell anyone. I don't want random people coming to me asking for help. I am only doing this because you are a friend."
Katie nodded and then excused herself. Quinn looked at her retreating back and thought, 'Maybe I will start it next year.' Quinn had an idea he wanted to try, but he decided to wait till the next year before starting the plan he had in mind.
Quinn was about to get back to reading when someone once again heard someone call out to him. He looked up and saw Marcus Belby standing with nervousness clear on his face.
"Belby, what is it?" Quinn questioned his roommate.
Marcus fidgeted and softly asked, "Hey Quinn, you know the homework McGonagall gave us two weeks ago..."
"You too? Come on, man, you are a Ravenclaw," joked Quinn as he gestured Marcus to sit down. "So, why didn't you do the assignment?"
Marcus scratched the back of his head and answered, "I found a great book on Herbology and forgot to do my homework. I am embarrassed."
Quinn fought the urge to laugh, 'Of course, he forgot his homework because he found a book. Such a Ravenclaw reason.'
Quinn took the other part of the split page and wrote the same thing as he had written for Katie. He slid the page to Marcus, "Here you go. Read this, and you will be able to complete the assignment."
Marcus picked up the sheet and read the contents, "Interesting, I have read one of these. Don't you find it interesting how the density of an object affects the wand movement of the transfiguration."
Quinn nodded, "Of course, the amount of magic changed with volume and density. Conversion of material also dictates the complexity and method to mold magic to transfigure the objects."
Marcus nodded, and without saying a word, left while staring at the sheet. Quinn followed Marcus with his eyes and saw he was heading to the Transfiguration section of the library. Quinn shook his head with a smile before going back to his book when he heard another voice, "Hey, man."
Quinn looked up to find a Hufflepuff standing there with a smile on his face. "Can I too have one of those sheets? I, too, forgot to do my homework."
Quinn smiled, "Buzz of dude. I don't know you. I couldn't care less if you get a troll in the assignment." The tone of his voice was warm, but the message was anything but warm and fuzzy.
Quinn then proceeded to ignore the unknown Hufflepuff and finally was able to return to his book.
- (Scene Break) -
On a usual Saturday, after spending some time at the library, Quinn was walking towards the staircase to go to the Room Of Requirement, but he froze when he heard Flitwick call out to him, "Mr. West, fancy meeting you here. I hope you wouldn't mind walking with me."
Quinn unfroze and turned back to face Flitwick with a smile, "Good Afternoon, Professor Flitwick. Of course, I wouldn't mind walking with you."
Flitwick caught up with Quinn, and they walked together. "So, where are you heading to, Mr. West?"
Quinn politely answered, "I was at the library and am heading to the common room. What about you, Professor?" Quinn was going to the seventh floor, but there was nothing above the fourth floor that would have anything to do with a first-year like Quinn. There were Arithmancy and Runes on the sixth and seventh floor, but Quinn wasn't a third-year. So, he could only saw the Ravenclaw common room that had its entrance on the fifth floor.
"Excellent, I am heading to my office, so we are going to the same floor. I have something to talk to you about?" Quinn mentally groaned as he now had to walk to the common room before going to the Room Of Requirement.
But he was curious what Flitwick wanted to talk to him about, "What is it, professor?"
Flitwick looked at Quinn with twinkling eyes and asked, "Have you finished the homework that is due this coming Monday."
Quinn nodded with a smile, "Yes, professor, I have completed it and can give it to you right now if you want." He had completed the homework on the day it was assigned, in the class itself.
Flitwick chuckled and spoke, "Of course, of course, you are never late on assignments. Why would you be? You complete the homework in the very same class it was assigned."
Quinn's breathing hitched as he froze for a step before speaking awkwardly, "Ah, so you knew about that, huh."
Flitwick laughed in his squeaky voice, "Of course, all the professors know that you do your homework in the class. It was one of the first things we talked about you during the faculty meeting."
"All the prof-?! I mean, aww, you talk about me?" Quinn was shocked to hear that all the teachers knew he did homework in class. But then he finished with a joke and instantly regretted it. 'Why did I do that?!' Quinn berated himself.
Flitwick laughed and revealed, "Of course, we noticed. You don't take more than a single attempt on any spell that is taught in the class. In potions, you know exactly when to pay attention while brewing." Flitwick paused before continuing, "Ah, my mistake. I don't think professor Binn knows that you do your homework in the class. He usually sleeps in our faculty meetings."
Quinn sighed and asked, "If that is true, I am truly curious why Professor Snape never said something about it." Given Snape's reputation, Quinn was sure that he would've had at least gotten a month's worth of detentions.
"Contrary to popular belief, Professor Snape doesn't enjoy tormenting his students. He simply doesn't want any mishaps happening while brewing. It irritates him when students can't follow simple instructions, so Professor Snape is extra tough in his class. Other than that, he couldn't care less what students do in his class. And you don't cause him trouble, so he doesn't say anything. But, do understand that he would punish you the second you make a mistake, and because of your skill, he pays special attention to you," explained Flitwick as they reached the fifth floor that housed both the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room and the Head of Ravenclaw's office.
After parting their ways, Quinn walked while feeling embarrassed about getting found out. Quinn truly felt flustered when Flitwick told him the truth.
When Quinn reached the seventh floor, he spoke to himself, "Teachers really do see everything." Though he wasn't going to stop, as long as it saved time, he was okay with some attention from the professors. "I am sure they would get used to it and, with time, ignore me."
- (Scene Break) -
One day, Quinn was approached by some of the first-year Ravenclaws. With Eddie in the lead, he asked, "Hey, Quinn, you are a pureblood, right?"
Quinn quirked his brows and thought why they were asking, so instead of doing the obvious and asking why he used Legilimency on every single one of them and read their surface thoughts. 'Ah, so they are wondering why I use paper and pen, huh.'
Quinn closed his book and decided to entertain them, "Yes, I come from a pureblood family. Why do you ask?"
Eddie looked at the group of first years before speaking, "Umm... we were wondering why do you always use muggle quill and parchment."
Quinn chuckled and pointed at the pen and paper in front of him, "The muggle quill is called a pen, and the muggle parchment is called a paper. The reason why I use these is that they are more convenient than quill and parchment. I don't have to dip my quill into ink repeatedly, and the parchments are tough to write on."
In response to that, one from the group asked, "What about self-inking quills and treated parchments. They cover the problems of the standard quills and parchments."
Quinn nodded before asking, "True, but do you know the downside of using charmed quills and parchments."
A different first-year raised his hand like he was in a class that amused Quinn, so Quinn pointed at him to speak. "Charmed quills and parchments breakdown with time. Feathers of a bird needed to be thoroughly treated to make them last longer, but the cost of producing them is much too high, and the same thing applies to parchments."
Quinn clapped for the guy and said, "See, you guys already knew the answer. You just needed to put your minds together. For the fantastic job you guys did, go treat yourselves with candy. You deserve it," he then gestured to them to go away, "Now, scamper off." While saying that, he casted a mild Confundus charm on the group to make them much more susceptible to his words.
He smiled when Quinn saw the group walk away like a group of gazelles. He was about to return to compiling notes on undead creatures like Vampires, Banshees, Vampires, and Dullahans when he heard a giggle.
When Quinn turned back, he saw Penelope Clearwater standing there with a hand on her mouth. Quinn tilted his head and asked, "What is it?"
She shook her head and laughed, "The way you talked to them was funny. You coaxed the answer out of them and then sent them away." She also narrowed her eyes and asked, "Their behavior was also unnatural. Did you cast a Confundus charm on them?"
Quinn's fake wand was in his room above in the dorm, so he grinned at her, and with a twitch of his finger, conjured a wand replica in his right hand, which was not visible to her.
"Yeah," saying that Quinn raised his right hand to show Penelope Clearwater the conjured replica.
"Confudus Charm is an advanced skill, Quinn. It is in the fifth-year charms curriculum, and you are in the first year," Penelope stared at Quinn, curiosity apparent in her eyes.
Quinn stared back at her and considered using legilimency to scan her thoughts but decided there was no need and spoke shyly, "I learned it from the fifth-year book I took from our library. I was curious and tried casting it, and it worked. Though I wasn't able to make any other spells work, hehehe."
Penelope stayed silent before smiling, "Is that right. Sometimes a wizard or witch can use a spell beyond their capabilities."
Quinn smiled but didn't say anything as he didn't want to continue the conversation with her, but just to be sure, he changed the subject, "So, how are your O.W.L. preparations going?"
Penelope was currently in her fourth year, so next year was her O.W.L year.
"Oh, it is going well. I am thoroughly following Professor Flitwick's schedule, so I pretty much all covered. What about you? Are you ready for the end-of-year examinations?"
Quinn showed an 'OK' hand gesture and replied, "I am all set for the exams. It will be a breeze~."
Quinn sighed when Penelope went away. He was glad that the conversation didn't cause him problems as he still wasn't able to use the Memory Charm.
'I need to be more careful when using magic in public. It would be a pain in the butt if people know I can cast spell way above my grade,' Quinn breathed a sigh of relief.
- (Scene Break) -
At the end of the year, exams came, and Quinn aced the tests without breaking a sweat. Quinn completed the theory part with ease but only mentioned the parts he learned from the Hogwarts course books and library. Quinn didn't want to answer where he learned all the extra information. But, Quinn was sure that he would still get all Os in the exams.
During the practicals, Quinn had to resist rolling his eyes when he mimicked wand movements and chant incantations. When the results came, Quinn was pleased to see that he had all Os and Flitwick personally congratulated him for being at the top of his year.
And, the first year ended without any incidents and accidents.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Number One, Numero Uno, Top Dog, Victor, Student Of The Year.
Filius Flitwick - Charms Teacher - Waddles like a Penguin.
Katie Bell - Gryffindor - Shadowing the Gryffindor Quidditch Team
Marcus Belby - Ravenclaw - Ravenclaws' Ron
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn de-boarded the Hogwarts Express and peered around the platform, searching for his family. After strolling a couple of steps, he saw a young woman waving her hand overhead with a smile on her face.
Seeing her made Quinn quicken his steps and dart towards her. With a similar smile on his face, Quinn set down his suitcase and hugged her.
"I missed you, Lia," spoke Quinn into the hug. He felt his sister tighten her hug around him and say, "Me too."
After a few seconds, they parted, and Quinn was widely smiling as he looked up at her. "Did grandfather come?"
Lia shook his head and answered, "He is waiting for you at home."
As the two walked to the apparition point, Lia asked Quinn to point out the people he knew.
"Okay, that is Eddie Carmichael, you know my roommate. Oh, there is Marcus Belby, my other roommate... See that girl over there, yeah, that is Katie Bell; I met her on the train..." Quinn sighed at a comment from Lia, "Yes, yes, she is my first friend... Moving on... There are Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, also from Ravenclaw, but I don't talk to them much... Oh, those are the Weasley twins I told them about. I don't like them that much, but I guess they are fine. Other than those, hmm... Cedric Diggory, Roger Davies, Penelope Clearwater, Adrian Pucey... they are a year older than me."
Though Quinn pointed the people out, he didn't introduce them to Lia as he wasn't particularly close to any one of them. Quinn had spent most of his free time in the Library and Room Of Requirement. So, his interactions with people were not extensive. But Quinn had cultivated the reputation as the helpful guy among his acquaintances.
When they reached the Apparition point, Lia took Quinn's suitcase and placed a hand on his shoulder before apparating away from the platform.
After returning home, catching up with everyone, and resting for a couple of days, Quinn returned to learning magic full time. Now that he had possessed a wand and had his grandfather's permission to use it, Quinn made the hall where Lia practiced her magic during her school years his second home. He spent all day long in that hall, and by mid-July, Quinn had finally cultivated the level of magic-focus required to cast seventh-year level spells.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn stood in the hall and took a deep breath. His magic core thrummed with magic. He looked at the empty space in front of him and concentrated, and the next second, things started appearing in front of him. Near the ground, a wooden base started forming, and seven feet above the ground, small gears, levers, and other delicate parts made from copper, aluminum, and steel popped into existence. With snappy speed, the wood structure built itself up from the ground, and metal parts appeared increasingly faster, assembling themselves to form an intricate mechanism.
Quinn smiled as he saw a longcase clock (grandfather clock) with a pendulum system stood in front of him with all its mechanical glory. A conjuration with so many moving parts; it required both magic and mental focus to conjure out of nothing. This was Quinn's best level of transfiguration/conjuration at the moment.
Feeling confident, Quinn spread his arms, and dozens of butterflies appeared in the air. Another wave of conjuration and dragonflies mingled with the butterflies. Quinn looked at the ground, and squirrels ran around the hall, climbing the clock in the middle of the room. Quinn still had to work on organic conjurations and could only conjure smaller animals.
When Quinn was admiring his work, he heard a knock on the door. When Quinn turned back and saw Elliot opening the door and entering the room with a pitcher of lemonade.
When Elliot looked inside the room, he saw nothing but Quinn standing in the middle of the room looking at him.
"Young master Quinn, it is quite hot today; please drink something," said Elliot as he poured a glass of lemonade for Quinn. Quinn received the glass from Elliot, "Thank you."
Elliot looked around the room and asked, "What are you doing, young master Quinn?"
While taking a sip from the glass, Quinn raised his fake wand and created a small block of ice on the floor. "Just practicing some charms." But then Quinn thought of something and excitedly asked, "Hey! Would you duel with me, please?!"
Elliot put on a thoughtful expression before saying, "Alright, but I have a few conditions."
"Do tell," said Quinn feeling good about convincing Elliot about having a duel with him.
"No lethal spells," said Elliot. Quinn nodded and replied, "Alright, let's specify a list of spells."
"Disarming spell," offered Elliot. Quinn nodded and added, "Sheild Charm."
"Full-Body bind." "Knockback jinx."
"Fire-making spell." "No, not happening" "Then how about Ice Jinx." "Agreed."
"Smokescreen spell?" "Only if we add Windy Charm to counter it."
"How about transfiguring ground into small objects to shoot it each other."
"Sounds fair, but no pointed objects. The same goes with Ice jinx, no pointed pieces of ice."
.
.
.
Quinn and Elliot agreed upon a list of spells and then moved to the backyard for some room to move. They were alone in the house, George and Lia were out for work, Ms. Rosey had no interest in watching them fight, and Polly, the house-elf, was happy doing work around the manor.
Elliot and Quinn stood fifteen (15) meters apart, and both had wands in their hands; well, Quinn had his fake wand.
"Are you ready, young master Quinn?" asked Elliot as he pulled up his sleeves. Quinn nodded and jumped on his toes, "Yes, I am ready. What should be the signal for us to start?"
Elliot waved his wand, and a conjured feather appeared in his hand. "I will levitate this feather and then let it go. The moment the feather hits the ground, we start."
Quinn nodded and took a stance. Elliot levitated the feather to four (4) meters and then let it go. Both of them waited for the feather to touch the ground. Quinn started grinning in excitement as the feather got closer to the ground, and magic started to come to life in his body. Elliot stood calmly in his spot and followed the feather from his peripheral vision.
The moment the feather touched the ground, the two casted Stunning Spell as the first spell of choice. The flying jets of magic canceled each other. Quinn got ready to cast another spell but saw Elliot was one step ahead and had already casted a spell towards him.
"Oh shit!" Quinn used the Sheild Charm (Protego) to block against the spell. An invisible shield appeared in front of Quinn, but the moment Elliot's spell hit the shield, the impact made the shield visible with silverish tremors.
From his spot, Elliot kept on casting Stunning Spell towards Quinn and spoke, "Young master, isn't it a little too earlier for getting pushed to the backfoot? I heard that the young were aggressive."
Quinn gritted his teeth, and after a few seconds, canceled his shield, side-stepped the incoming spell, and casted a strong Knockback hex. That prompted Elliot to cast a Shield Charm of his own, but the moment the hex touched the shield, Elliot was skidded back a step.
"Oh ho, that was quite some power behind that young master, " Elliot spoke as he canceled his shields and deflected the upcoming spells with ease. The next opening Elliot saw, he casted a body-bind towards Quinn's feet, which Quinn dodged by jumping, and casted a Smokescreen spell to shroud the space between him and Elliot with dark mist.
Quinn moved to the right while casting multiple Smokescreens to thicken the shroud. He was waiting for Elliot to cast a Windy spell. The movement of the displaced mist would give Quinn an idea about Elliot's position.
But, as Quinn slowly moved, a jet of yellow and red shot out of the dark shroud and latched itself onto Quinn's hand like a rope, and it almost made Quinn's eyes pop in shock. It was the seize-and-pull charm (Carpe Retractum)
"What the-!" was all Quinn could say when the yellowish-red cord of light pulled Quinn into the dark mist.
On the other side of the mist, Elliot was waiting for Quinn to appear on his side so he could disarm him, but what came out of the mist was a huge chunk of ice that headed right towards him. The huge chunk of ice made Elliot drop his seize-and-pull charm and cast a shield spell to protect himself.
Just behind the ice, Quinn got up from the ground. 'Whew! That was some quick thinking I did.' When Quinn was pulled, he used the ice hex to create a block of ice and shot it towards Elliot.
Quinn looked around and saw the mist disappearing and decided to get aggressive. He stepped outside of the disappearing mist, and the moment he saw Elliot, he casted a spell chain of Full-body Bind Curse (Petrificus Totalus), Stunning Spell (Stupefy), and Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus).
Elliot had just recovered from his surprise when he saw Quinn's spell chain; he side-stepped the Full-body Bind Curse, deflected the Stunning Spell, but the Disarming Charm caught him dead-on and forced the wand out of his hand.
Quinn was so happy to see the wand out of Elliot's hand that he cheered while jumping madly, "Woohoo!" Quinn had won his first duel, and it bought him a whole lot of joy. After jumping in joy, Quinn collapsed onto the ground, spread-eagle. He felt the adrenaline slowly leaving his body as his chest heaved up and down.
Elliot walked to Quinn after collecting his wand and said, "Congratulations, young master. That block of ice was masterfully placed."
Quinn looked up at Elliot from his position on the ground, "The Ice hex was just an impulsive action. I have to say, the seize-and-pull spell caught me by surprise. Can we do this every day? Because this was thrilling!"
Elliot sat beside Quinn and looked thoughtful. "Well, I see no harm if we take proper security measures, but just to be safe, let's ask your grandfather."
Quinn sat up and replied, "I will ask him when he gets home."
That evening, George gave Quinn and Elliot the permission to duel, though not after some stoic and silent consideration. He also talked with Elliot to make sure Quinn wasn't overdoing things, and he was to make sure Quinn wasn't injured.
- (Scene Break) -
From that day on, Quinn would duel with Elliot every day for some time, getting used to casting spells on the move while looking out for Elliot's movements.
Elliot also helped out Quinn with his words of wisdom.
"Young master, I am no dueling champion, but I can point out some obvious things that are common knowledge while dueling," spoke Elliot as the two met in the backyard for their daily dueling sessions.
Elliot waved his wand in a pattern, and slowly, a substantial amount of ground transfigured itself into a real-life lion that roared at Quinn, causing him to flinch and back away a few steps. Just as the lion came to life, Elliot canceled the transfiguration, and the lion turned back to dirt.
"Transfiguration can be used in a duel to cause harm or buy time, but let's say I used this transfiguration in a duel. If I chose my opportunity, I could order the lion to attack my opponent, and it would at the very least serve as a distraction. But, what if I did this?"
With a much simpler wand movement, the same ground changed into a lion, but it was not a real lion; it was the ground in the shape of a lion. The mud lion roared all the same and once again caused Quinn to flinch.
When the lion collapsed back into dirt, Elliot asked, "Young master, did you notice something different?"
Quinn nodded and pointed at Elliot's wand and spoke, "The wand movement was much simpler," he pointed at the pile of dirt and continued, "and the mud lion came to shape much quicker than the real lion."
Elliot smiled at the answer, "Yes. While dueling someone, there isn't a place for flashy moves. If you can accomplish what you want to do with less, then learn to do it. Saving energy and quickly finishing the fight should be the aim. Get in ready and get out quickly."
Quinn nodded as it made sense when magic was involved; a single killing curse (Avada Kedavra) could end someone's life instantly. There was no merit to draw out fights when a single spell could seriously injure you, or worse, lead to death.
Sometimes, Quinn also dueled against Lia, and he had to say, dueling against Lia was much challenging than Elliot. But that was just because she enjoyed toying with him while Elliot made sure that Quinn was learning something.
But she did teach Quinn something of importance.
Quinn and Lia were dueling, and Lia was rapidly firing spells in his directions. Most of the spells were not even hitting Quinn and passed by his sides. But, it was the barrage of spells that restricted Quinn's movement; he was too busy evading and block the incoming spells to attack.
A solid attack from Lia didn't come in the form of a head-on spell but as a trap. Quin moved a couple of steps to the left when his left foot sank into the ground and stumbled to the ground. Immediately after that, he was hit by a Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) from Lia and was stripped of his fake wand.
"Dammit!" Quinn pounded the ground as he stood up and removed his foot from the soft patch of land.
Lia giggled in victory as she walked to Quinn and casted a Cleaning Spell on his clothes. "Did you like that? It was clever, right?"
Quinn stared at the soft ground before looking at Lia, "All of those spells were just a cover-up for this trap." When Lia nodded, Quinn once again spoke, "What if I had gone to the right?"
Lia smirked while answering, "As long as you didn't go back, you would have still fallen for my trap. I set up multiple of these all around you." She casted at multiple patched of ground, and all of them sank. "See? Any direction, and you were toast."
Quinn groaned but also thought that disrupting the balance of the opponent was an excellent strategy. 'But, I could do it better,' thought Quinn while he walked towards his fake wand to retrieve it.
- (Scene Break) -
In the first week of August, Quinn wrote a letter to Flitwick regarding a request. He wanted sole access to one of the empty rooms in the castle. He wanted a base of operations in Hogwarts; the common room was too much of commonplace, his dorm room was too small and had the same problem of being a shared place.
The Room Of Requirement was the perfect private place, and it catered to his every need, but he needed a place that could be accessible to anyone. The Room Of Requirements was his secret, and he would like it to remain as a secret as long as possible. He needed a personal place for himself, but he could invite people there without causing a problem.
Quinn was going to a service where he would help the students of Hogwarts for a price. He would take in requests and ask for something of equal value in exchange. Quinn had the plan for starting out small by helping out people with housework, then move up and take more important requests that would put people in his debt, and slowly he would cultivate a network of people who owed him.
The main objective of this service was to build connections with people in all four houses. The Potters were different in this world, and he needed to adapt to that change. He needed eyes and ears to know what was happening in Hogwarts and stay ahead of the curve. Quinn was going to use this service to accomplish that.
It was a week later when Flitwick replied with a letter. The response bought a smile to Quinn's face. In his letter, Flitwick agreed to provide Quinn sole access to a Fifth-floor room as long as he assured it was to be used professionally and no improper activities would take place in the room.
Quinn immediately replied with a stern promise that he won't misuse the room and would honor the trust Flitwick was placing on him.
Quinn eyed the letter and smiled, 'With this, I am one step closer to becoming the most influential student in Hogwarts.'
Now, he just needed to wait for the school year to start.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - At Home - 3, 2, 1, Let it Rip!
Elliot Dalton - Butler - Dueling Partner - Ah, the youth.
Lia West - Elder sister - Messing with Quinn is fun.
Filius Flitwick - Hogwarts - Professor of Charms - New Session. Busy. Request Approved.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
In the second week of August, Quinn decided to go to Diagon Alley for his annual visit. He didn't have to buy the books, but he did want some potion supplies like cauldrons of different sizes and materials and Rune equipment.
Near the Floo-fireplace in the West Manor, Quinn stood with George and Elliot.
"Are you sure you would be fine on your own?" asked George as he was worried about Quinn going to Diagon Alley alone without any supervision.
Quinn nodded and assured him, "Yes, I will make sure to be careful. I have the portkey that you gave me," Quinn fished out a thin silver chain necklace from under his shirt, "I will immediately activate it if I get in trouble."
"Alright. And, you have your wand? Don't worry about the underage magic restriction; use magic in case of emergency. I will handle the ministry if they send you a notice." George didn't know that Quinn's real wand was locked in his suitcase, and the fake wand with him didn't have a trace on it. As long as Quinn was considered, he could do magic all day long in public, and he still won't get a single notice from the ministry.
Finally, George nodded and nudged his chin towards the fireplace. Quinn acknowledged, and with a last look of goodbye, he threw the floo-powder in the fireplace, watching it turn green, and spoke, "Diagon Alley." Then he stepped in and disappeared from the West Manor into the green jets of flames.
Elliot looked at George and comforted, "He will be fine. Quinn is a responsible child and wise beyond his age."
George sighed and replied while staring at the flames of the fireplace, "I hope so, old friend. I am just nervous because it is his first time going out on his own."
Elliot smiled and recalled, "If his letters from Hogwarts are any indication, then he loves to roam around the castle, exploring. It was just a matter of time before Quinn would have explored outside. And you are forgetting how much he pulled us during our travel with him; he wanted to see everything."
George fondly remembered the memories and chuckled, " I thought I was getting on with the age because the little fella never got tired and always wanted to do something new."
Elliot and George exited the room while reminiscing about the past.
- (Scene Break) -
On the other side, Quinn was walking among the crowd of people in Diagon Alley. It was nice to be among this many people after being at the West Manor for a month. He missed being able to just look at a person and read their surface thoughts. Now, in Diagon Alley, Quinn had access to so many unprotected minds.
'Mr. Alan was right; this can get addictive.' Quinn smiled as he heard random stranger's thoughts. Quinn had discovered that people's thoughts at a market could be a fine source of humor. Some ladies were bitching about other ladies, children and men were pinning after quidditch brooms, and vendors/shop owners were mentally smirking about ripping off customers. Quinn could hear all sorts of fun things from the crowd as he weaved through the waves of people.
First, Quinn went to Gringotts to withdraw money and then went to the potion store to order cauldrons of different configurations and crystal vials. Crushers, made from different metals. Mortar and pestles of specific stones. Quinn was in the process of expanding his potion repertoire, and the ingredients and preparations were getting complicated.
After bargaining the price to the lowest price by reading the shop owner's mind and getting free shipping, Quinn skipped to the Rune supplies store.
Runes was an application of magic that utilized magic by means of language. Runes were symbols, graphemes, morphemes, logograms, hieroglyphs, and all kinds of scripts that supported magic. Each rune had its own name and a variety of esoteric meanings that represent the metaphysical concepts, the so-called genetic code of the universe. The user must understand the meanings of the runes and how they apply to their intended use.
But, you couldn't just take a pen and write runes on paper and expect it to work. No, you needed specific materials to make runes work. If you were writing runes on paper/parchments, you needed special parchment that sustained magic and specific ink blends that conducted magic. If you were etching runes into metals or wood, you needed carving tools that would help precisely etch symbols into the material. Staining solutions that would bind magic into the wood or mixtures that prepared metals for sustaining and holding runic magic.
Quinn also realized that a lot of magic branches crossed each other at some point. Charms coincided with Potions in ingredient preparation. Transfiguration concepts were used in Transmutation and vice versa. Dark Arts and Defense Against the Dark Arts were two sides of the same coin. Arithmancy was used in almost every field of magic. You needed to know how to brew potions for solutions to draw runes so on and so forth. Herbology was used in Potions and then in turn in Runic magic. Alchemy was even more complicated, but that would be a discussion for a different time.
After yet another victory in bargaining by employing legilimency,
Quinn happily exited the rune equipment store in Horizont Alley. Thanking the lax behavior of the magical world. He pitied the people who didn't know occlumency and were clueless to the dangers of being their minds read.
He looked around and thought, 'Well, I am done. I guess walking around wouldn't hurt. See if something catches my eye.' As he was walking the street, Quinn saw a crowd standing in front of the Flourish and Blotts.
Quinn got curious and walked to a person in the crowd and asked, "Hey, what is going on?"
The adult took a single glance at Quinn before turning back to look into the bookstore, "They are saying that the Boy-Who-Lived is in the store. People are waiting for him to come out."
Quinn raised his eyebrows at this piece of information, 'Potter, huh?' The reputation of Potters was much more prominent than canon Harry's fame. Potters have been active in the Britain magical world, so they had been in the public eye, unlike when canon Harry was isolated from the magical world.
Quinn thought about what he should do, and after thinking for a few moments, he smiled and yelled, "Make way, Hogwarts student incoming! Let me through... Yeah, I am talking to you; get out of the way... Hogwarts students, Hogwarts students. A Hogwarts student wants to buy some books! Get the hell out of my way, people!"
Quinn shamelessly pushed his way through the crowd and knocked on the door to get the manager's attention. The manager looked at the door, thinking it would be a person from the crowd, and wanted to scold them, but then he saw Quinn waving his hand at him with a smile.
The manager cracked the door a little and heard Quinn speak, "Hogwarts, want to buy books. I am alone, so don't worry about me bringing someone in the store."
The manager smiled apologetically and let Quinn in and spoke, "Sorry about all of this. I can't do much about the crowd outside."
Quinn shook his head and said in understanding, "Don't worry, I understand. Your business would go under if you refused to sell to the Boy-Who-Lived."
The manager smiled a little before asking, "Do you need help with finding something?" Quinn shook his head and replied, "Na, I am fine. You should stay here at the door; I would rather take time in peace than shop with people flooding into the shop."
After conversing with the manager, Quinn headed into the bookshop and made his way to the magazine section. He wanted to grab a copy of the magazines; Transfiguration Monthly and Popular Potions before taking a look at this world's Harry Potter, and if he was here, then the rest of the Potters would be here too.
He grabbed the magazines and was going to go search for the Potters, but the cover of Popular Potions caught his interest. "Ooh, they found a use for Doxy's saliva! So interesting!" but then Quinn stopped and reprimanded himself, "No! What are you doing man? You can read this later." Quinn slipped the magazines under his arms and then set out to get a look at the Potters.
The first person he found was surprisingly not a Potter, but a Weasley. Quinn saw Percy Weasley browsing through a bookshelf, and it made him wonder, 'Are Weasleys friends with the Potters? Both the parents were in Dumbledore's Order Of Pheonix.'
Quinn slipped past Percy and shifted the shelves to find a Potter and found a Potter. He found the smartest witch of her generation, Lily Potter. She was just as the books had described her; a beautiful woman with dark red shoulder-length hair and almond-shaped green eyes. Quinn has once wondered if the green eyes were such a big deal, but looking at Lily Potter's green eyes made him realize that Harry Potter's green eyes might just be his greatest feature because Lily's green eyes were really mesmerizing.
She was reading a book, so she didn't notice Quinn staring at her. And he also decided that he had stared enough and moved on to find his next target and once again found the Weasleys, and this time he found three of them; Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, and their youngest son, Ronald Weasley. Quinn stopped and heard what they were talking about, and the conversation was about Ron whining about wanting new books while Molly was having nothing of it and saying that he would use the twins' books, while Arthur was standing there silently, not saying a word.
Quinn could understand Ron not wanting hand-me-downs from his brother. No young child wanted to use hand-me-downs. But with the Weasley family's financial situation, new books were not an option. Education was an expensive affair, after all.
Quinn sidestepped the heated family discussion and walked to the next row of shelves. He immediately came face-to-face with the Weasley twins, and they recognized him. They walked close to him and spoke, "Quinn West." "Ravenclaw." "Smartest in his year." "Top of his class." "And, we meet him here at the bookshop." "Not a surprise at all."
Quinn smiled at the twin talk and greeted, "It is nice to meet you two as well. The crowd outside is insane, isn't it?"
The twins nodded and answered, "The Boy-Who-Lived is here." "The people want to see their savior." "To think they don't tire of surrounding him after ten years." "Speaking of." "Did you see him?"
Quinn shook his head answered, "Not yet, but I did see Mrs. Potter. She was reading a book. Who else is here?"
"Potter Twins." "Mr. and Mrs. Potter." "Us, Weasley Twins." "Percy, our brother." "Ron, our younger brother, and our parents." spoke the twins with perfect synchroneity
"Do the Potter-Twins speak like you two?" asked Quinn, to which they snorted in unison, "No, those two are opposite to each other." "You will understand when they come to the school." "We are one of a kind." "It is a pity." "We could have used them to prank McGonagall." "Alas, it is not possible."
Quinn chuckled and thought about something before fishing out a business/calling card from his pocket and handed it to the twins. The card was black in the background with gold writing. It was the card for Quinn's consultation service that he named as A.I.D. It was a simple card with the letters A, I, and D, and under it was the room number and floor of Quinn's new room of operation.
"What is this?" asked one twin.
"If you want a solution to a problem or any task that needs assistance, or if you want any information you want to know, come to this room, and I would help you for a price. It doesn't have to be money; I can work with IOUs (I owe you). Just make sure to only come to this room when there is a golden {IN} written on the backside of the card," explained Quinn. He had charmed the card to show an {IN} when he was available for consultation.
The twins tilted their heads and asked, "How do we know you can get the job done." "And, keep things a secret." "How will you gather information?" "Are you any good?" "Why should we come to you?"
Quinn smiled and motioned them to come closer and whispered, "I am good. Do you know why? Because I know about the map that you guys have. What was it? Marauder's map, and ah, what were the words?" Quinn smirked and quoted, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Quinn felt elated seeing the twins' stunned and silent faces and continued, "Think what would happen if one of the people you pranked know about the map and tattled to the teachers. The map must be quite important to you, right?"
The twins looked at each other, and one of them spoke, "The map is useful, but we don't need it that much." They had turned defensive and were trying to not seem nervous.
Quinn's smile widened and continued, "Oh well, then you won't mind if McGonagall knew about the secret passages, would you? Or, are they also not important?"
The twins sucked in sharp breaths and blurted, "Okay, we understand!" "You are good." "No, you are great!" "We kneel before your prowess." "We will come to you if we have any problems."
Quinn chuckled and finished, "Good, now if you see someone having a problem, come to me, and I will give you one of these cards to give to them. Only people with the card would be able to enter the room." He patted them on their shoulders and said, "Now I will go and get a look at the rest of the Potters. See you later. Let's hope we can work together in the future."
He walked past them and waved them goodbye without looking at them.
In one aisle, Quinn came to find the Potter father and son duo. Quinn could see the stunning similarity between them. The only difference Quinn could see was their eyes.
The father-son duo was looking at the book, Curses, and Counter-Curses. [Bewitch your friends and befuddle your enemies with the latest revenge: Hair loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, and much, much more.]
It was a classic book for a prankster, and from the look on their faces, Quinn could understand the personality of this iteration of Harry Potter.
'He is going to be a pain in the ass, isn't he?' If Harry Potter was anything like the younger James Potter, then there were chances that Harry would go around the school pranking people.
'I wonder if this Harry would have a saving people thing,' wondered Quinn. Harry Potter's willingness to help people and charge into dangerous situations was one of his good(?) qualities, but Quinn also thought, 'But... if he doesn't head into those situations, maybe it will be easier to solve those problems all by myself. One less variable less to worry about.'
He left them alone and headed to find the brand new unknown addition to the Potter family. Lily and James were dead in the canon, but this one didn't exist at all. And, in the deepest corner of the bookstore, Quinn found her. He had seen photos of her, but all of them were black and white in color, so Quinn noticed she had the same dark red hair but longer than her mother's and stopped above her mid-back, and her eyes were startlingly green.
Ivy Potter, the twin of Boy-Who-Lived, the Potter Princess, was sitting on the floor holding a book in one hand and imitating wand movements with her other hand. She was engrossed in her book, just like Quinn had seen her mother do a few minutes ago.
If Harry Potter was going to be like James Potter, then from Quinn's first impression of Ivy Potter, she was definitely going to be Lily Potter.
Quinn didn't say and just observed the anomaly in front of him, wondering what role she would play in the future. But if one thing was for sure, then it would be that she would be an integral part of the future, all Potters would be. They were at the center of things in Britain.
Quinn snapped out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps heading his way and decided to leave the spot and walked away. He didn't notice that the red-haired girl also heard the footsteps causing her to look away from her book. When she looked up, she was able to get a clear look at Quinn as he was leaving.
She wondered who he was, but her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Ivy, it is time to go." And she wouldn't recall the black-haired boy until she would see him at Hogwarts.
Time passed, and it was once again time for going to Hogwarts. Time for Quinn's second year had come.
.
End of Volume 2: Hogwarts: Year One
.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Created the consultation service A.I.D (Assistance In Distress)
Weasley Twins - Masters of Twinspeak - Holders of First-Gen A.I.D cards.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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The link is also in the synopsis.
-*-*-*-*-*-
On September 1, 1991, Quinn decided to get to the train station early.
He told his grandfather the day before and gave him the reason. "The Potters are going to be there tomorrow, and I am sure that parents of the children are going to stay and crowd the platform. Plus, reporters are going to be there to click photos for their articles. I don't want to get in the middle of all that chaos and would prefer to get a compartment before it gets too crowded. So, can we go early, please?"
So, on the day, Quinn reached the platform early and got himself a compartment. When Quinn saw outside from his window and saw reporters standing around the platform waiting for the Potters to arrive. And as time passed, Quinn also saw parents of students not leaving and staying at the platform.
Quinn sighed and thought, 'Poor people, most of these people won't even get a look at the Potters. Then there would be the nervous non-magical parents. What would they think when they see the crowd of people and reporters.'
Quinn also thought about how some of the parents would ask about the Potters. He could imagine the horrified look on the parent's faces while listening about the war and Voldemort. Quinn was sure that Hogwarts faculty didn't share that information with the parents as it would be terrible publicity. One thing was for sure, some parents were going to have one hell of an experience, and that too just before sending their children off to a strange and unknown world.
After a while, Quinn got bored and took out a book on Healing magic from Egypt. And Quinn began reading a chapter on bones. It had all kinds of information on bones, the composition of different bones, herbs, and magical beast organs that facilitated bone healing, potions recipes for various bone anomalies, and healing charms that repaired bones.
The information in the book impressed Quinn, "Huh, so you don't need to use Skele-Gro for every bone injury. Now, where do I get people with broken bones..."
It was then that Quinn heard the crowd outside become noisy and made him look outside, "The Potters are here, huh." He shook his head and dove back into his book.
Ten minutes later, Quinn heard a knock on his door that made him give a distracted glance to the door. There he saw two girls, one blond and one brunette. Quinn sighed before gesturing them to enter.
The brunette opened the door and asked, "Are you saving the seats for someone? Or, can we join you in here?"
Quinn shook his head and gestured to the seats, "Please, enter. The seats are free. You are welcome to join me." Saying that, Quinn stood up from his place to help them with their luggage. He pulled his fake wand and clearly showed it to them; following proper protocol, he asked, "I will be using my wand to get your luggage to the racks above if that is acceptable to you."
It was the polite social norm to ask before using magic on other people or their belongings. The brunette smiled and nodded while the straight-faced blonde stared at him for a while before giving a single slight nod to show that she permitted Quinn's help.
Quinn pretended to follow the luggage with his fake wand even though he wasn't using pointing to direct the luggage. After he placed their luggage on the luggage racks, Quinn asked, "I haven't seen you two at Hogwarts. Are you two by any chance first years?"
The brunette excitedly answered, "Yes! It is all so exciting. You must be a senior, can you tell me about Hogwarts? Is it true that there is a giant squid at Hogwarts?"
Quinn chuckled in reply, "Yes, there is a giant squid in Hogwarts, but it is quite difficult to see the squid. It doesn't emerge from the Great Lake for long periods." He paused before continuing, "By the way, My name is Quinn West. May I get your name?"
"Oh! My name is Tracey Davis. It is nice to meet you," answered the brunette with an ever-present smile on her face.
Quinn smile and held out his hand that Tracey took. Quinn turned her hand to kiss her knuckles, causing her to giggle. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Davis." Quinn usually shook hands as a greeting but changed greeting according to the person in front of him, but he switched it to this style seeing their attire. He could clearly see that they were from traditional, old-school British magical families. A traditional greeting was much appropriate for these two.
Then the two turned to the straight-faced blonde, and Quinn thought, 'No way is she who I think she is. But... blonde, straight-faced, no expressions, and she clearly is from a pureblood family. Friends with Tracey Davis... yup, she is the child of fanon.'
The expressionless blonde critically stared at Quinn's outstretched hand and finally spoke her first words since entering the compartment while gracefully allowing Quinn to hold her hand, "Daphne Greengrass."
Quinn repeated the same action of kissing her knuckles. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Greengrass." He was once again met with silence, but Tracey chatted with him.
"Which house are you from, and what year are you in, Quinn? And, can I call you Quinn?" babbled Tracey, full of energy.
"I am from Ravenclaw, second year, and yes, you can call me Quinn," answered Quinn before asking, "You must be excited to get to Hogwarts. Have you thought about which house do you want to join?"
Tracey shrugged in response, "I don't know. I am fine with any house." Quinn turned to Daphne Greengrass, expecting an answer, but she didn't say anything, and Tracey spoke, "Sorry about her, Daph is really shy. And to answer your question, she wants to be in Slytherin."
The blonde Greengrass snapped her head towards her friend and glared, "I am not shy, don't speak nonsense." Tracey giggled at getting a response out of her friend.
Suddenly, all three felt a jerk as the Hogwarts Express began moving. Quinn took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, "Only ten minutes late. I was expecting more delay. I was clearly expecting a thirty-minute delay."
"The Potters really attracted a crowd, huh. I wonder which house would the Boy-Who-Lived go to?" spoke Tracey as she watched the crowd outside.
To Quinn's massive surprise, it was Daphne Greengrass who answered the question. She scoffed, "The golden boy would definitely go to Gryffindor. To him, any other house is a lesser option." Quinn could hear the dripping condescending tone in her words and voice.
"Oh my, from your words, I assume that you know Harry Potter," Quinn asked, wishing to learn more about this connection.
Daphne frowned at him, "Why are you a fan of him? Do you want me to introduce you to him?" She looked like she was going to say more, but Tracey interjected and answered, "She is friends with his sister, Ivy Potter."
"Am not-!" she said heatedly but then closed her eyes to calm down. Quinn seriously wanted to read Daphne Greengrass's mind, but he could see the telltale signs of occlumency in use. Her expressionless face was a clear sign of emotional aspect occlumency, and it wasn't farfetched to assume that she had defense shields up. He didn't want to risk getting caught and decided to use legilimency at a later date when he was better prepared.
But all was not finished; Quinn had gathered enough information to deduce, 'Daphne Greengrass is at least acquaintance with Ivy Potter, so there might be a connection between the Potters and Greengrasses. From what grandfather has told me, the Greengrass family is firmly planted in the Grey faction, which means the connection is not political, which indicates a personal relationship. But of what kind? I doubt James Potter is friends with Jacob Greengrass; they are too different. What then? What prompted Daphne Greengrass and Ivy Potter to meet? Self-note: Find more about this connection.'
Quinn also thought about Daphne's words about Harry Potter, 'She clearly doesn't like Harry Potter. Any other house than Gryffindor is a lesser choice were her words... does that mean this Harry Potter thinks less of people in other houses? That is not good, is it? Oh Merlin, don't let him be like Gryffindor's Draco Malfoy.'
Quinn looked at Daphne, who had calmed down and spoke, "A snappy one, aren't you? I have no need to go through you to get to Potter. If I wanted to meet them, I would have approached them myself. But, thank you for the offer." After saying that, Quinn changed the topic and talked to Tracey about Hogwarts as Daphne listened.
The next part of the train ride was quite similar to last year's; When the Trolley lady came, he ordered the same bar of chocolate just as last year and asked for the buffet car timing. But then Draco Malfoy came into the compartment. He was walking to the back of the train when something caught his eye, and he barged into Quinn's with his two bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle.
"Hey, Greengrass, you are friends with Potter. Do you know where he is sitting?" asked - no, demanded Draco. Quinn slightly tilted his head and looked at the scene with interest.
Daphne looked at Draco and spoke, "No, I don't. Now, don't disturb me and get out." She didn't give him a second look and returned to the book she was reading.
Draco seemed miffed and then looked at Tracey and sneered while speaking to Daphne, "It looks like you are still hanging with your filthy half-blood pet."
Tracey's face darkened as she looked down, and Daphne snapped her book close and confronted Draco, "Dare to say that again, Malfoy, and I will hex you to tomorrow! Tracey is my best friend, and you would treat her properly. Speak to her like this again, and I will make your life miserable." By the end of her rant, Daphne had her wand out and was pointing it at Draco.
Daphne's momentum overwhelmed Draco. His face turned red, and he spluttered, "M-my father will hear of this Greengrass."
That prompted a laugh from Quinn. The whole scene was just too damn funny. Seeing Draco splutter in a panic about his father was comedy gold.
Quinn's stifled laugh reached Draco's ears, and when he saw Quinn, Draco decided to save some dignity by targeting Quinn. He looked at Quinn and spoke, "What are you laughing at? Do you know who I am?"
Quinn gently closed his book and stood up. He walked closer to Draco and held out his hand for a handshake, and Draco actually took Quinn's hand. Draco didn't know why he was holding Quinn's hand, but something compelled him to shake Quinn's hand, and it wasn't magic. It was pure body language and confidence that allowed Quinn to command the room.
Quinn squeezed Draco's hand firmly and answered, "I know who you are, Mr. Malfoy. For who I am, my name is Quinn West. You asked me what I was laughing at? I was laughing at you. Now, why don't you apologize to Ms. Davis, and we can call this over. I would rather not look at you more than the bare minimum."
All of Draco's plans or quips were already out of his head. He was just staring into Quinn, who was smiling, but the smile seemed discordant to Draco and made him uncomfortable.
"Haha, w-what will you do if I don't apologize? I will have you know that you are talking to a Malfoy. You are in the presence of someone better than you," spoke Draco, hoping that he would scare, but it didn't.
"I already told you that I recognize you, Mr. Malfoy. As for what I would do? You will only leave here if you apologize to Ms. Davis, or I will hold you for the rest of the train ride. And, trust me, I am not joking. And, for you being better than me; yeah, that is a good joke," spoke Quinn in a humorous tone, but everybody could decipher the true meaning from his words.
"M-My father w-will know of this. He is close to the minister! I will have your wand snapped," spoke Draco, pulling out the daddy card.
Quinn nodded and replied, "Sure, you can write to your father, but for now, you are still apologizing." saying that Quinn tightened his grip on Malfoys hand and gave a stern look to Crabbe and Goyle; warning them not to interfere.
Draco winced, feeling the grip on his hand. He looked at Tracey and murmured an apology, "I am sorry."
"Now, repeat that again and add that you won't do it again," instructed Quinn. Draco wanted to protest, but a look from Quinn made him stop.
"I am sorry. I won't do it again," spoke Draco with a face flushed red with embarrassment.
Quinn smile and released Draco's hand, who quickly put it behind his back. Quinn patted Draco's clothes in a cleaning motion and said, "That wasn't difficult, was it? Now that you have apologized, please leave. You were talking about Potter's cabin, right? Go find it, go on, hurry along." After saying that, Quinn shut the door close and ignored the stunned and embarrassed Draco.
Quinn walked back to his seat and sat in the now silent compartment.
Tracey looked at Quinn with an amazed and thankful look, "Thank you." It truly amazed her at how Quinn had handled Draco. It was quite a sight to watch.
Quinn smiled and replied, "Please, it was nothing. He made you uncomfortable and was about to get on my nerves, so I made him leave, but not before teaching him a lesson. And overall, it was a fun experience."
Daphne humphed and interjected, "We could have taken care of it ourselves. You didn't need to interfere." She was unhappy that she was not the one to make Draco apologize to her friend.
Quinn slightly tilted his head in confusion, "Us? You must be confused, Ms. Greengrass. I only stood up for Ms. Davis. I wasn't thinking about you at all. That is why I only asked Mr. Malfoy to apologize to Ms. Davis and not you, remember?" Hearing Quinn's words made Tracey giggle, and Daphne frowned and glared at him.
Quinn looked at the time on his pocket watch and asked his two companions, "Would you two like to accompany me to the Buffet car for lunch?"
Tracey jumped at the invitation, "Sure, we would love to join you." Daphne was about to say something, but Tracey pinched her to get her to stop talking. Daphne could only rub the pinched spot and relented in silence.
- (Scene Break) -
After they returned from lunch, the peace of Quinn's compartment was once again interrupted. A person opened the door causing all three people to look up at the person. Oh boy, were they surprised to see Ivy Potter standing at the door.
Ivy was about to say something when she met eyes with Daphne and said, "Oh, Daphne, didn't see you there. How are you?"
Daphne quirked her brow and replied, "Your eyesight must be getting worse. Why don't you get them checked? Maybe then you and your brother would match."
Ivy narrowed her eyes and countered, "Or maybe it was because I mistook you for a statue. There isn't much difference between you and a statue, you know?"
While they were arguing, Quinn nudged Tracey and asked, "Ms. Davis, what is happening? Didn't you say these two were friends?"
Tracey giggled and replied, "Oh, they are friends, alright. They just don't know how to express themselves. They are cute like that." Quinn could tell that there was more to this story, but he let it go and commented, "If you say so, and I would have to say this is much more interesting."
Tracey smiled brightly and responded, "I know, right!"
The two girls exhausted their insults for each other, and Ivy turned to Tracey and asked while waving her hello, "Hey Tracey, I am looking for a toad. Have you seen one?"
Tracey waved back and shook her head, "No, I haven't seen a toad, sorry."
Just then, another person came, and Quinn recognized her as Hermione Granger. Looking at her, Quinn had one thought, 'Yeah, that is Emma Watson, alright.' She looked at Ivy and asked, "Did you find Neville's toad?"
Ivy shook her head and replied, "No, not yet."
Quinn decided to offer them some help, "You should approach one of the prefects and tell them about the missing toad. Ask them to relay the message to the driver, who would announce it over the speakers across the train; that way, you would reach all the students in the train."
It would be much more efficient for them to ask the driver rather than going to every compartment. Plus, he didn't give the idiotic advice of using a Summoning Charm (Accio) as it didn't summon living beings.
Ivy looked at the third person in the room for the first time and saw Quinn. She immediately recognized him from the bookstore, "You-"
But, Hermione spoke before her, "Thank you, we would do that." And, before Ivy could start again, she was once again cut by Daphne, who stood up and spoke before Ivy, "Good, now that you got some help, leave." She didn't wait for Ivy to respond and shut the door. Outside of the room, Hermione dragged Ivy along.
Daphne sat back and glanced at Tracey and Quinn, who were smiling at her. She asked, "What?"
Both of them shook her head and replied in unison, "Nurthing~."
When the Hogwarts Express was about to reach the Hogsmeade station and Daphne, Tracey, and Quinn had changed, Quinn decided to give them his consultation calling cards.
He handed them the black calling cards and explained, "If you need help with anything. Please come to this room, and I will help you at a suitable price. I also accept IOUs of equal value. I would be in for a consultation when the back of the card shows you an {IN} symbol. So, don't be shy to come to me for help."
The two girls looked at the black and gold card and saw the front side switch between {AID} and {Solution to any of your problems}.
Then he kissed Tracey's knuckles and did a mock-bow to Daphne before separating from them to join the other students.
Tracey waved his goodbye and said to Daphne, "Quinn is so dreamy~." Daphne just stared at her friend like she was crazy, but she did look at the card he had handed to her.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - 12 years old - Hogwarts (2nd Year) - Novice Consultant.
Daphne Greengrass - 11 years old - Hogwarts (1st Year) - Stone-faced blonde
Tracey Davis - 11 years old - Hogwarts (1st Year) - Bubbly Brunette
-*-*-*-*-*-
If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
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The link is also in the synopsis.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn walked into the Great Hall, once again taking in the grandness of the hall, and made his way to Ravenclaw bench. He looked at the long bench of Hogwarts robes customized to contain Ravenclaw colors. Robes had blue linings, a Ravenclaw symbol on the left chest, and a blue tie with white and silver stripes. Quinn, too, was wearing the same robes; last year, the house-elves had customized Quinn's robes on his first night at Hogwarts. Quinn had taken a liking to the Ravenclaw blue after wearing it every day.
Quinn searched for his roommates and found them. Eddie Carmichael and Marcus Belby, Ravenclaws from the same year as Quinn. He made a beeline towards them and smiled when he saw their seating arrangement. As usual, Eddie was sitting opposite Marcus, prepared to stay away from his terrible eating habits. Quinn also made the same decision and walked to Eddie's side. He patted Eddie on his back as he sat beside him. "Good to see you again, guys. How are you two?" said Quinn in greeting.
"Hey, Quinn, where were you? I didn't see you on the train," asked Eddie from his side. "Oh, I got early and sat down before the Potters got to the platform," answered Quinn.
"You could have come to see me," complained Eddie. Quinn shrugged and responded, "I forgot, I had some interesting company. And, you could have done the same; I didn't see you coming to me." Both the boys looked at each other before smiling and dapping in greeting.
"Oh, I got a little late at the platform. Believe me when I say that for a second, I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it aboard the train. The crowd to see the Potters was crazy," Marcus shared his experience of the morning at the platform.
Eddie leaned towards Marcus and asked, "So, did you see the Potters? I wasn't able to see them. I did go to their compartment, but they had drawn the curtains."
Marcus shook his head, and Quinn spoke, "Hey, I saw Ivy Potter, Boy-Who-Lived's twin sister. She came to my compartment looking for a toad."
Eddie, Marcus, and other Ravenclaw near them leaned towards Quinn for more details. "A toad?" asked Marcus.
Quinn told nodded and told them about her, that she had red hair and green eyes and that the train announcement was his idea, but nothing of the interaction that she and Daphne had; that stuff was personal.
As time passed, Quinn also greeted other Ravenclaw as they arrived in the Great Hall.
"Chang and Edgecombe, how are you two girls doing? Did anything fun in the break?" Quinn made small talk with Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe, who stopped by for saying hi.
"I went to Italy with my family. How about you?" chatted Cho.
"Oh! Italy, beautiful country, isn't it? Did you go to the Vatican?" asked Quinn and shrugged in response, "Na, I didn't go anywhere this year. My family was busy this summer. But I did have a lot of fun. Did a lot of reading. "
He also congratulated Penelope Clearwater when he saw her. "Clearwater is that a prefect badge I see. Congratulation, you deserve it."
Penelope smiled and replied, "Thank you, Quinn. I hope I won't be seeing you out after curfew." Quinn put on an innocent expression and said, "What? I am always in the common room after curfew. You know I love to follow the rules."
She swatted his shoulder and shoulder, "Stop with that look. You are always the last one to enter the common room. Most of the time, you come back in is after curfew. So, please don't let me catch you, or I would have to give you a detention."
Quinn shrugged and proudly said, "Oh, come on. I start my day early and end it late. You should look at with positivity, recognize my hard work that would make a Hufflepuff proud."
She shook his head and commented, "Or, a silver tongue that would make a Slytherin proud." Quinn winked and smiled, "Prefect Clearwater, you are giving me a poor reputation; I call it smooth-talking and not a silver tongue. It is one of my good points."
She sighed and relented, "Only you, West. Only you." She left but not before saying, "But, I will still give you a detention if I see you."
After a little while, Quinn was looking around when he saw someone enter the hall, and Quinn wasn't sure what to make of it. He truly wasn't expecting this person to be here. Quinn watched as Lily Potter entered the Great Hall and walked to the staff's High Table. The student body murmured, seeing Lily Potter, and whispered among themselves.
After wrapping his head around seeing Lily Potter at Hogwarts, most definitely as a new teacher, Quinn laughed... hard.
Eddie looked at Quinn and asked, "Why are you laughing?" Quinn shook his head and chuckled to himself, "It's nothing. This is all so amusing to me. Right, amusing. We were already getting two Potter. One more isn't nothing to worry about." Quinn looked at Dumbledore chatting with Lily and thought, 'Oh, Dumbledore, you clever old goat.'
In Quinn's mind, Lily Potter being here was an obvious attempt from Dumbledore to keep the Potters close. He wanted to have maximum influence over the Potters, and what better way than to allow Lily Potter to stay close to her children. Potters already held Dumbledore in high regards, and with this, he had done them another substantial favor.
Quinn also glanced at Quirinus Quirrell. He was wearing a turban and fidgeted in his chair. Quinn looked at the turban and could imagine Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell's head. The canon was afoot, and Quinn was here at ground zero.
- (Scene Break) -
When all the students, second-year and above, settled down in their house long-tables, McGonagall came to the Great Hall and announced, "The new first-years are ready and waiting in the Antechamber, so please behave and support them as they get sorted."
And then McGonagall led the new students into the Great Hall. With McGonagall in the lead, the new first-years walked in a line, taking in the grand sight of the Great Hall, forgetting their nervousness for just a moment.
When the students reached the front of the hall, they gathered just below the steps that led to the High Table. Seeing them look all nervous made Quinn's heart swell.
"Look at their expressions; they all look so nervous," said Quinn as he smiled. Marcus looked at him with doubt and asked, "And that makes you happy?" Quinn nodded and smiled widely, "Yeah!"
The sorting hat sang its introductory song, but Quinn didn't join the rest of the school in applause as he associated the hat with bad memories, and last year on that stool made him feel exposed.
The sorting finally started, and Eddie looked at Marcus and Quinn, "Remember your bets. The first student of this year will go to which house. I choose Ravenclaw, Marcus choose Gryffindor, and Quinn chose Hufflepuff. The winner gets five sickles from the other two. Put the money on the table." Quinn had proposed a bet among his roommates, and they had enthusiastically agreed to it. The surrounding people also heard them and began betting with each other. Soon the entire student body was betting.
McGonagall unrolled a roll of parchment and spoke the first name, "Abbot, Hannah." A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line. McGonagall put the hat on her, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. After a pause, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Quinn smiled and collected the money on the table, "Payday~." Then he looked at his two friends and purposed another wager, "How about this, If I guess thirty students' houses correctly, you two will give me half-galleon, but if I get even one less than thirty, I will give you both a galleon each. How about it, deal?" He placed two galleons on the table.
The two looked at each other and nodded. Both pulled eight sickles and fifteen knuts out of their pockets and placed them on the table. Eddie looked at Quinn and repeated, "Thirty and no less."
Quinn smiled and said, "Get ready boys, you are about to see something truly magical. Also, the first girl that went Hufflepuff is included."
Quinn rubbed his hands. He saw Susan Bones go up the steps and said, "Hufflepuff." The next moment the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF." Then Quinn advantage of his knowledge and nailed the houses of every character he recognized.
"Ravenclaw." "Boot, Terry." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Ravenclaw." "Brocklehurst, Mandy." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Gryffindor." "Brown, Lavender." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Slytherin. "Bulstrode, Millicent." "SLYTHERIN!"
.
.
"Oh, I am not sure about this one but, Slytherin." "Davis, Tracey." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Another Badger, Hufflepuff." "Finch-Fletchley, Justin." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
.
.
"Gryffindor." "Finnigan, Seamus." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent sure, Gryffindor." "Granger, Hermione." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Ah, she is the classic Slytherin material and the better kind!" "Greengrass, Daphne." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Sigh, the big guy is going to Slytherin." "Goyle, Gregory." "SLYTHERIN!"
.
.
.
"Our housemate, a prestigious Ravenclaw." "Li, Sue." "RAVENCLAW!"
"He looks like he is about to wet his pant. You know what, Gryffindor!" "Longbottom, Neville." "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Hmm... Hufflepuff." "MacDougal, Morag." "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Slytherin, no other choice. A pity for the Slytherin house. Well, at least they would have money." "Malfoy, Draco." "SLYTHERIN!"
.
.
.
"Looks like a typical Slytherin." "Nott, Theodore." "SLYTHERIN!"
"Slytherin all the way." "Parkinson, Pancy." "SLYTHERIN!"
"She feels like a Ravenclaw." "Patil, Padma." "RAVENCLAW!"
"Twins, huh? Gryffindor!" "Patil, Parvati." "GRYFFINDOR!"
By the time Quinn had gotten ten students correct, the entirety of Ravenclaw table was hanging onto his every word. Quinn's predictions were passed onto the entire table via word of mouth. Because of Quinn, the Ravenclaw table had the most fun during the sorting ceremony.
On the staff's High Table, Lily Potter was sitting beside her favorite teacher, Filius Flitwick. She noticed how the Ravenclaw table was ooh-ing, aww-ing, and clapping for every student. Even for those who were being sorted into Slytherin. She knew how intense the house rivalry could be. In fact, the cheers were increasing with every student.
Lily turned to the Flitwick and said, "Professor, your students are showing great inter-house unity; they are cheering so enthusiastically for every student. It is quite nice to see it; In my time, only the house cheered for their sorties. I am impressed that you were able to teach them to rise above house rivalry."
Flitwick also noticed his house table, and after listening to his new former student now colleague's praise, he felt pride as Ravenclaw's head of the house. He didn't know what was the difference this year, but he was happy about it. It would be quite a shock for him when he would later learn that the Ravenclaw students weren't cheering for the new students, but for Quinn, who was on a roll of guessing the sorting of the new students.
Finally, it was Potters' turn on the sorting chair. McGonagall looked at the scroll and then looked at the new students before announcing, "Potter, Harry."
While everybody on Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin tables were standing and craning their necks to get a look at the Boy-Who-Lived, the Ravenclaw table was watching Quinn, who had his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked. He looked left and then right before speaking, "Gryffindor."
A series of nods and murmurs went through the Ravenclaw table as the Ravenclaw students turned their eyes to Harry Potter, who was climbing the steps to the stool.
Quinn observed this version of Harry Potter and, for the first time, took note of the difference between him and the canon Harry. This one looked confident unlike, the nervous canon Harry. He was smiling as he sat on the barstool, and his eyes were looking at the Gryffindor table.
The moment the hat dropped on Harry's head, it shouted its decision, "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table went wild, and Harry also stood up from the barstool with a bright smile. But, he stopped in confusion when the Ravenclaw table's cheers drowned the Gryffindor table's cheers.
Harry was confused; were they happy that he didn't come to Ravenclaw? The staff and faculty, along with the other three houses, also felt puzzled. What was wrong with Ravenclaw this year?
Quinn didn't feel surprised at the swift decision; this version of Harry differed from the canon version and wasn't a hatstop. He turned his eyes to Lily Potter. She was looking at Harry and fondly smiling while clapping.
'She must be quite happy to have her child in the same house as herself,' thought Quinn.
His friends prompted him to make the prediction, and Quinn looked at McGonagall, who said the next name.
"Potter, Ivy."
Quinn wasn't sure about this one. He had seen her at the bookstore lost in the book, but she was also raised in the Potter household with two Gryffindor parents and Sirius Black as a frequent visitor. Quinn looked at the galleon on the table. He picked one and tossed it into the air. He caught the coin when it came down and looked at it. He looked at the people around him and said, "It was a close decision between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but the galleon has spoken, Ivy Potter will go to Gryffindor."
The hall went quiet as everybody waited for the hat's decision. The hat stayed on Ivy's head for almost a minute. Everybody saw the hat move and knew the time had come.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
It was followed by a chant from the Weasley twins, "We got Potters, We got Potters."
Quinn pumped his fist and spoke, "Yeah!" Quinn knew that not all studious people went to Ravenclaw. It was a person's beliefs and choices that decided their house in Hogwarts. He didn't know Ivy Potter well enough to know where she would end up, and Quinn solely based his prediction on what he had seen and heard of her. Ivy going to Gryffindor was pure luck and speculation.
For example, Quinn knew Hermione Granger is smart and studious, but her beliefs weren't the same as a Ravenclaw; she didn't hold a Ravenclaws' values of being clever, scholarly over Gryffindor's bravery and courage. In the books, Hermione herself had said to Harry, "Books, cleverness, but there are far more important things like bravery."
The hat also added his own thought to the decision, like where the child would grow the most. If Hermione had gone to Ravenclaw, she might not have been able to make friends.
'When it comes to academics, Ravenclaw is a cutthroat house. There are plenty of backstabbings and betrayals in Ravenclaw,' thought Quinn as he looked around the joyous house that became ultra-competitive during examination time. He looked at Gryffindor and Hermione and thought, 'Maybe that is why Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor.'
The sorting continued, and only one person was remaining. McGonagall called him to the barstool, "Zabani, Blaise."
Quinn stared at Blaise and announced, "He will go to Slytherin." The Ravenclaw house waited with bated breath for the hat to announce its decision.
"SLYTHERIN!"
The second the hat announced the sorting, some of the older Ravenclaw students lifted Quinn and threw him in the air to celebrate. "Whoa! This is somewhat whacky. Hey, do it more!" But they had to stop when McGonagall yelled at them.
Albus Dumbledore was chuckling when he got to his feet. He beamed at the Ravenclaw student before looking at all the students, his arms opened wide.
"Welcome all!" he said. "Welcome to a brand new year at Hogwarts! Before we start the banquet, and I get to know about all the fun the house Ravenclaw is having, I would like to say a few words. Here we go, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Previous year Quinn had taken a trip to the kitchens and confirmed his theory. Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak were indeed the name of the house-elves, and they were the oldest house-elves in Hogwarts and took care of the first meal of the year.
After the meals were done, Dumbledore made his annual announcements. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." He looked at all the student body and continued, "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well..." He repeated the same words as last year before saying, "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Quinn, who had just finished his pudding, put his spoon down and sighed as he heard those words, "Lovely. Absolutely lovely."
Marcus looked at Quinn before asking, "What is?" Quinn sighed before smiling towards his roommate, "The pudding, of course."
Dumbledore continued as he had said nothing out of order, "Lastly, I would like to introduce you to a new addition to Hogwarts." He gestured towards Lily Potter, who stood up and smiled at the student body. "From this year onwards, Madame Lily Potter will be joining Hogwarts' staff. She would take the position of Professor of Muggle Studies. Please, give her a warm round of applause."
Quinn looked at Lily Potter and then the Potter Twins before finally looking at Quirinus Quirrell, Voldemort's host.
'Potters and Voldemort, both are here, and so is the Philosopher's Stone. All the players have gathered for the first time... the game has begun,' thought Quinn giving Dumbledore, Quirinus Quirrell, Lily Potter one last glance before walking and fading away in the crowd of students.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Made a galleon in a wager - Star entertainer.
Lily Potter - Muggle Studies Professor - Excited to teach at her Alma Mater
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
In Ravenclaw common room, every complimented Quinn on his predictions. Then the prefects asked them to leave the common room for the first year's inauguration to Ravenclaw by Flitwick.
Quinn checked the assignment chart for the dorm room and climbed the boy's dorm stairs to his new dorm. He found that Eddie and Marcus were already there.
"We are roommates again this year, nice," said Quinn to his first-year and now second-year roommates. After getting changed, Quinn retrieved two A.I.D calling cards and presented them to Eddie and Marcus.
Eddie looked at the black and gold card in his hand and questioned, "What is this?"
Quinn moved his hand behind his back and explained, "If you ever need help. Help with anything, anything at all. Come to this room, and I will help you for a suitable price or an I.O.U. In this room, you would find the solutions to all of your problems."
Marcus looked away from the card and asked, "Even for homework?"
Quinn chuckled and waved his hand, "No, you can ask me about homework here. I won't charge you guys for homework; just think of it as roommate perks. But, anything other than that, come to that room, and I will give you a roommate discount."
"Do you have permission to use this room?" asked Eddie as he placed his card in his dorm desk drawer. Quinn nodded and replied, "Yeah, I have Flitwick's permission. Wrote him a letter in the break."
Quinn was transferring his clothes to his dorm cupboard when he heard a knock on the door. He looked up to see one was one of the Ravenclaw prefects at the door.
"Yes?" asked Quinn as he walked towards the door. The prefect handed Quinn three sheets of parchment. "Here you go, this is the timetable for second-year students, take one and pass the others to your roommates."
Quinn received the sheets from the prefect and spoke, "Thank you."
He dropped the other sheets on Eddie's and Marcus's bed and climbed his own bed to check the timetable. "Oh, this is great! I have the whole of Friday free. This is much better than last year," Quinn spoke with delighted in his tone. With the Friday free, Quinn would have three straight free days.
After sorting his memories for the day in his mindscape by memory immersion, Quinn decided to turn in for the day and sleep for the first working day of his second year at Hogwarts.
- (Scene Break) -
The next day, Quinn got up nice and early for his day. After brushing his teeth and washing his face. He took out his running shoes and changed into sportswear, and headed to one of the grounds in Hogwarts' premises.
Mind, Body, and Soul were three facilities for magic. Quinn had been developing mind since he was eight and met Alan D. Baddeley. He took on developing the body: the second facility when he was nine years old and started exercising outside of his dance lessons with Ms. Rosey.
Every morning he would go out for a run and run a 5k (5 km/5000m/3.1 mile) every day. It would usually take him around twenty-two minutes every day to complete his track in which he would think about the upcoming day and what he wanted to do on that day. Quinn found that going on a run was an excellent way to start his day with a clear mind. So after roughly a quarter of an hour after waking up, Quinn would be back in his dorm room, getting ready to take a bath.
After spending fifteen minutes in the bathroom, he would come out refreshed and wake his roommates. Marcus would wake up with a light nudge, but Eddie wouldn't wake up with anything less than a kick.
By ten past seven (7:10), Quinn would be out of his dorm room and the Ravenclaw common room and would be on his way to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Today, Quinn was eating his breakfast like usual when he heard Flitwick calling out to him from the High table.
"Mr. West, please come here when you have finished your meal," said Flitwick from his chair at the High Table. Quinn nodded in response, and he especially noted that no one else heard Flitwick.
'His voice only made its way to my ears. Now, how did he accomplish this? Sound isolation? No, that would restrict the movement of voice in an area. He must have used a sound spell that allowed him to target his voice to the listener. But then how did he make sure that his voice didn't leak as the distance increased...,' Quinn thought as his hands moved automatically to feed himself as he thought about the concepts behind Flitwick's show of magic.
Quinn didn't notice that Flitwick was looking at him and laughing in his squeaky voice. Flitwick could have charmed a parchment to fly to Quinn to convey his message, but he decided to use his current method to see Quinn's reaction. It did not disappoint him when he saw Quinn deep in thought, obviously thinking about how he could talk to him with no one knowing.
After Quinn finished eating his breakfast, he made his way to the High Table and greeted the professors who were looking at him, "Good morning, Professors. I hope you all had a pleasant sleep last night."
Flitwick smiled at his charge and immediately spoke, "Good morning to you as well, Mr. West. Did you figure out how I called you?" Hearing that, Quinn realized Flitwick did it on purpose, knowing that he would think about it. It made him chuckle in reply, "Not yet, professor. But, do give me a day or two, and I will get back to you with an answer."
Flitwick grinned and asked, "Or, I could give you an answer right now." Quinn shook his head and refused, "No, thank you, professor. But, I would like to find an answer on my own. This way, I would learn a lot more than if you spoon-fed me the answer right now."
Flitwick clapped his hands and praise, "I wouldn't expect anything less than you, Mr. West."
Quinn felt a gaze on him and turned to the source and found Lily Potter staring at him with interest. He decided to ask, "Is something wrong, Professor Potter?"
She shook her head and responded, "Oh, it's nothing. I was just listening to your conversation."
Flitwick jumped in and introduced Quinn to Lily, "Lily, meet Quinn West. He is at the top of his year, the smartest of his class. He scored number one around all the subjects."
Quinn smiled in humbleness, "You exaggerate, professor."
Lily looked at Quinn and asked, "So, Mr. West, do you have plans to take Muggle Studies next year?"
The question elicited a laugh out of Quinn, "Oh god no. No offense to your teaching capabilities, professor, but the Muggle Studies subject at Hogwarts is worthless."
Lily Potter frowned as she heard Quinn's response, "Do you consider muggles lesser than you, Mr. West?"
Quinn laughed a little louder and responded, "Of course not, professor. The magical kind is just a minor part of the world. The non-magical kind outnumbers us in population by an extremely large margin. I don't consider le non-magiques, the muggle, the no-maj, the can't-spells, lesser than me, I do not. I believe the muggles are not lesser, but others. Not worthless, but of other value. Not disposable, but of a different disposition. Magic is a gift that blooms in rare individuals, and even among them, a few really appreciate it. I don't look down on non-magicals, but I do consider them different from me, a person who can use magic, not because I can do magic, but because of the society I was raised in." Quinn gestured at the Great Hall behind him and continued, "Most of the people from magical families have no connection to the world outside the magical community. They do not know how large the world is, and the class at Hogwarts will not help them understand that."
Quinn turned back to Lily and asked, "Professor, you are a first-generation magical, right?" Lily seemed confused and asked, "First-generation magical?" Quinn understood her confusion and answered, "A muggleborn, professor."
"Oh, yes. I am a muggleborn," answered Lily after she understood what Quinn meant.
"I have read the curriculum of muggle studies; do you as a muggleborn really think that the severely outdated curriculum would help them understand them about the big world outside? Professor Potter, I am a pureblood with no non-magical ancestors for generations upon generations. But, I know the non-magical world, I visit it frequently, I love watching movies, eating at fast-food joints, trying out their clothes, and experiencing many other things the magicals couldn't even imagine. The architecture, the technology, they have things we haven't even started to dive in. I know how different it is from this one, and I can, at this moment, leave the magical world and be a part of the non-magical world. It is because I genuinely gave it a chance. Opting for muggle studies isn't giving the non-magical world a chance. So, my final answer? No, I am not going to join the muggle studies class next year."
Quinn immediately turned to Flitwick and asked, "Professor Flitwick, why did you call me?" Flitwick snapped out of his trance and took out a key from his pocket, and spoke while giving it to Quinn, "This is the key to the room you asked for."
Quinn took the key and smiled brightly, "Thank you, professor. It was really kind of you to accept my request. I promise I will use the room properly. Now, please excuse me, I have to prepare for my classes." Quinn was going to leave but decided to say one last thing to Lily, "professor, if you really want to introduce the non-magical world, then I would suggest that you change diverge from the curriculum and teach what you think would help. It probably won't help them pass their exams, but it would help them understand the non-magicals." He smiled before finishing, "Professor Potter, I hope that you would have a great time at Hogwarts." And with that, Quinn left.
Flitwick and Lily sat in stunned silence about what had just taken place. It was a while before Flitwick spoke, "Last year when I had just met Mr. West, I thought he was like you. Bright, smart, intelligent, but as I came to know him better, I realized Mr. West differed greatly from any student I had ever taught. He is smart, he is bright, intelligent, and much more. From what I have seen, Mr. West truly loves magic. As long as it has something to do with magic, he would be interested in it, but he doesn't ignore the things that have nothing to do with magic. He loves new experiences. Do you know he explores the castle every single day? To him, this castle isn't just a building but a magical marvel that needs to be studied and explored. He just doesn't learn a spell's incantation and wand movement; he dives deep into the concept behind the spell and works to truly understand the magic from its very core."
Flitwick smiled before continuing, "He is polite and curt. He knows how to hold a conversation and has excellent social skills. He is quite popular among his peers because of his personality and how he handles himself." He chuckled before continuing, "Mr. West is the only student in Hogwarts that Severus doesn't dislike, and that is quite something. If it wasn't for his obsession with magic that keeps him busy and gives him barely enough time to socialize with others, I would have considered Mr. West to be a perfect child. I really look forward to his growth, Mr. West is an enigma, and I want to see him grow."
Flitwick didn't comment on what Lily should do with her subject as it wasn't his place to tell her, and Flitwick himself didn't know too much about the non-magical world. But he understood what Quinn was trying to say as he himself had to navigate between two different worlds because of his ancestry.
Lily Potter just stayed silent as she thought about the things Quinn had said to her. She had imagined a lot of ways her first day as a teacher at Hogwarts would go, but one thing was for sure, that what happened now wasn't one of them.
- (Scene Break) -
Quinn didn't have his first class till eleven o'clock, so he decided to visit his newly acquired base of operations for A.I.D and set it up for business. Quinn was excited to see the classroom and excitedly climbed the stair to the fifth floor. He was so excited that he almost got caught in one of the trap stairs in a staircase.
The allotted classroom was in the opposite direction from the fifth-floor entrance to the Ravenclaw tower. So, there weren't many students loitering around in this area. Quinn found the room quite easily, as it was on the main corridor of the fifth floor.
'Hats off to Flitwick; he gave me a prime piece of property,' thought Quinn as he used the key to unlock the door to the classroom. The door unlocked with a thump, and Quinn entered the classroom by pushing the door open. Age-old dust immediately greeted him and prompted Quinn to fan the area in front of his face.
He saw a large classroom caked with dust; in the room were a few desks and chairs piled in the corner and blackboards on both sides of the room; the floors near the walls where the blackboards were hanging were raised to form platforms for teachers. It had no windows because of its location, and the only source of lighting was the three candle chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
Quinn walked to the center of inside the empty classroom and closed his eyes. He began concentrating his magic, gathering more and more magic from his magical core. When he thought the magic was enough, he casted an abnormally powerful Scouring charm (Scourgify) for cleaning the layers of dust and dirt in the room and a Skurge Charm (Skurge) to clean the sticky green ectoplasm created by passing ghosts.
The wave magic emitted from Quinn as the center and inch-by-inch the grim dirt and choking dust cleared out of the room, leaving squeaky clean surfaces all around the room. The green ectoplasm was eradicated from existence by the Skurge charm.
Quinn looked around the room with a smile, "Much better." The room still needed a lot of work. He needed to polish the floors, touch up the walls, and ask the house-elves to provide magic candles for the chandeliers.
Quinn roamed the room and decided how he was going to use it. He decided to partition one part of the room near the door for the meeting room for A.I.D and use the rest of the wide classroom as a workshop to work on projects.
"I would need a big table, some chairs, and decor for the meeting room," he turned to look at the rest of the room and noted, "A lot of workstation tables to line the walls, cabinets to store the paperwork, maybe a center island." He stepped back a few steps and continued, "The partition would go right about here."
Quinn tapped his chin with a finger and said to himself, "I could get most of the stuff I need from Room Of Requirement. The room of hidden things would have all the furniture I would need, and I could use the glass panes in the room of hidden things for the partition. A little Transmutation to make one huge glass partition, unbreakable charms to strengthen the glass, and maybe frosting it to make it opaque."
Quinn took out his pocket watch and considered, "I still have time... Okay, I will go to the room of hidden things to get the stuff."
- (Scene Break) -
It had taken Quinn quite a while to find the appropriate furniture for his new base, and all of it was broken in some way; Quinn would have to fix every piece of furniture to make it useable, but overall it was a great find. He shrunk all of them down and transferred them to the new A.I.D base.
He looked at his pocket watch and thought, 'I will return after school to fix all of this.' It had taken quite some time to find the things as the room of hidden things disabled the use of Summoning Charm (Accio) to find objects. Quinn had to manually find all the furniture he needed. He was also very grateful that he didn't find Voldemort's diadem Horcrux, as he was neither equipped nor confident to deal with a Horcrux.
After his classes for the day were over, Quinn went to his dorm to get changed, and then instead of going to the new base, he went to the outskirts of the forbidden forest to collect wood scraps and swiped wood used for lighting the fireplaces. He needed the wood to fix the furniture; they were missing parts that couldn't be restored with the Repairing charm (Reparo), so he needed extra wood to substitute missing parts.
In the base, Quinn began fixing the wooden furniture by using the Repairing charm and used transmutation to add wood to the broken furniture and finished the furniture with liberal use of color-changing charm to give the repaired furniture an even color.
Next, he dumped all the glass he had found in the room of hidden things on the floor. Quinn didn't care if it broke; it was all going to be broken down by transmutation. One by one, Quinn transmuted the glass into one enormous glass wall that went from floor to ceiling that divided the room into two parts. He finished the work by layering Unbreakable charms on the partition to strengthen it.
He moved the table and chair to the meeting/office area and stepped back to admire his work. The office was bland and empty. The glass wall looked beyond ugly because of the numerous different glass used to create it. The walls were faded and looked old, plus the floor beneath his feet was dull, and overall the room needed a lot of work to make it presentable.
"But it is a start," spoke Quinn as he thought about the future of this operation.
"I hope it will be fun."
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Repairman/Handyman - Wood thief - Entrepreneur.
Filius Flitwick - Charms professor - Finds Quinn interesting.
Lily Potter - Muggle Studies professor - Deep in thought about her future as an educator.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
It took Quinn a week to complete the makeover of the office and the workshop. He had touched up everything that he could find. Waxed the floors, paint the walls, put paintings and knick-knacks in the office, some plants to make everything look presentable.
After completion of the decoration, Quinn began his first major project. Quinn was going to recreate the Marauder's map for his own purposes. The Marauder's map was a document that revealed all the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: not only did it show every classroom, hallway, and corner of the castle, but it also showed every inch of the grounds, as well as all the secret passages that were hidden within its walls.
The most noteworthy feature of the Marauder's map was its ability to track people's positions within its range. The map could also accurately identify each person and was not fooled by animagi, Polyjuice Potions, or invisibility cloaks; even the Hogwarts ghosts were not exempt.
In the workshop part of his classroom, Quinn stood in front of the center island with his hand folded. "The Marauder's map is created from the use of Homonculous charm, enabling the possessor of the map to track the movements of every person in the castle."
Quinn unfolded his hands and picked up a fountain pen, and scribbled notes on a sheet of paper. Quinn wasn't going to use the Homonculous charm to create the map; Quinn decided he would use runes and runic magic to build his version.
"Let's begin from the start," Quinn said while walking to one of the drawers in the workshop and removed a 60 cm X 40 cm (23 inches X 15 inches) piece of off-white fabric from the drawer.
"Note: Base; I am going to use cloth in place of parchment for the base of the map," Quinn said as he placed the fabric on the table and wrote the observation in his notes. "Parchment or paper would be much more fragile than cloth fabric. Parchment is more susceptible to wear and tear than cloth; therefore, it is the better choice for the base of my map."
"Next step is to prepare the fabric for runic magic. I need to create a solution to soak the cloth in it to enable the fabric to house the runes and sustain the flow of magic," Quinn noted and took out a book from his bookbag. The book that Quinn took out was a text on preparing various materials to enable runic magic. He flipped the pages to reach the chapter on cloth fabric and noted the potion/solution recipe in his project notes.
"The base recipe for the solution has been established. The subsequent step would be to research the ingredients and steps in the recipe and try to improve and optimize the recipe for my project." Runic magic required the surface on which the runes were drawn to be prepared, and this where potion brewing came into place. Quinn was also going to take this chance to improve the potion/solution recipe for future uses.
The next stage of the project was to draw a plan for designing the rune cluster and rune layers for the map's working. Unlike Marauder's map, Quinn was going to use runes, and he needed to draw schematics for the runes that would go into the map.
"I am going to use two systems of runes, Elder Futhark and Japanese system's Kanji," noted Quinn as he thought about the system of runes he was going to follow. Traditionally, using a minimum number of languages/systems while using runic magic was the best practice; too many languages caused heterogeneity in the rune cluster, which didn't sit well in runic magic.
Quinn's idea behind using Elder Futhark and Kanji was rather simple. Not all languages had the same connection with magic; different languages had different connections with magic. Some had a powerful connection with magic and channeled magic with ease. Others held the advantage of flexibility in use, and using them would provide a variety of options.
Over that, not all languages were connected with magic. For example, Tamil was the oldest language in the world, but it had no connection to magic. You couldn't use Tamil in runic magic. The same went for English; even though English had its roots in magical language, but it had no magical capabilities.
Out of all runic languages Quinn was comfortable using, Elder Futhark had the deepest connection with magic, so Quinn chose to build his map based on Elder Futhark as it would provide the map a deep connection with magic. Kanji, on the other hand, was a language with the flexibility of options. Quinn required an amount of flexibility for something like the map. The problem faced was how to integrate these two runic languages together so they could work in harmony.
"Note: Work out the arithmancy needed for Elder Futhark and Kanji to work together. By the end of the week, create a feasible model for integrating these two languages," Quinn set a realistic goal for this stage.
The next part of this project was the most important one. How would a cloth with runes know about the names and locations of the people in the castle? In the Marauder's Map, the Homonculous charm took care of this part, but Quinn wasn't going to take this approach.
Quinn looked at the ceiling and walls, and he was looking at the answer. The answer was Hogwarts itself. He was going to use the castle to obtain the names of the people present on the premises. Hogwarts was a magical building that held some sort of sentience and would provide Quinn with all the information he needed. Quinn was sure of this method because Hogwarts was connected to powerful artifacts like Quill of Acceptance and Book of Admittance. All Quinn needed was to connect his version of the map to Hogwarts, and the map would have the names and locations of all the people present in Hogwarts. Information straight from a source that couldn't be fooled and was the most trustworthy of them all.
Quinn had thought for hard and long how to establish this connection and finally had figured out a method to accomplish it. He was going to use the wards around Hogwarts. The very wards that were connected to Hogwarts and protected the people inside it, and if Quinn's map formed a connection to these wards, that would give him indirect access to Hogwarts' information.
After finishing planning for every stage of the project, he drafted a project document and schedule and finally stored everything in the manila folder.
And on the cover of the manila folder, Quinn wrote the project name.
「Project Watch」
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
Four weeks after Quinn drafted the plan for 「Project Watch」, he stood in his workshop in front of the center island. On the center island were the various equipment and materials needed to assemble the map.
Quinn put on his protective gloves and safety goggles, "Let's start."
He moved to the empty side of the island table. Quinn reached for a sheet tray and placed it in front of him. Next, he picked a transparent glass container with a transparent liquid in it. The liquid was a potion/solution that would enable the cloth fabric for runic magic.
Quinn had worked on the base recipe for this enabling potion and improved the formula by employing his potion brewing knowledge. The resultant potion was much more potent and could sustain a substantial amount of the magic.
Quinn uncorked the container and carefully poured the liquid into the sheet tray. Then he carefully picked the off-white fabric and laid it in the sheet tray to soak in the solution.
Quinn removed his gloves and picked up his pocket watch to keep track of time. Just before the soak time hit nine-minute, Quinn once again wore his gloves, and the second the time reached nine minutes, he removed the base of the map from the liquid and placed it on another large thick sheet of cloth to absorb the rest of the liquid.
It took just above one minute before the map's cloth absorbed all the liquid and returned to a dry state. Quinn cleared the table and cleaned the table's surface, then placed a smooth wooden writing board on the table, and then laid the map's cloth base on it.
He walked to the project's manila folder, opened it, and took out multiple sheets with rune schematics drawn on them. These were all the runes that he had to draw on the map's cloth base. He had researched and experimented with Elder Futhark and Kanji to create a working rune model for the map.
He walked back to the wooden writing board and laid the schematic papers around the board for an unobstructed view. Then Quinn picked up his roll-up brush bag that held all his calligraphy brushes and rolled it open. He also screwed upon multiple small bottles of runic inks for writing runes on the cloth base.
Quinn wore his artist's glove and began the long process of drawing runes on the cloth with brushes. Each rune was carefully drawn, just as Quinn had practiced drawing in calligraphy. From time to time, he would change brushes and inks. Rune by rune, he built up the rune cluster for the map.
With each layer of runes, Quinn would wait for the ink to dry and then activate them by running his magic through them, and then they would glow before disappearing into the fabric. Halfway through painting runes, Quinn retrieved the Hogwarts floor plans he had drawn from exploring the castle and its grounds for a whole school year. Quinn wasn't able to find the floor plans from the library or the Room of Requirements, so he had produced his own set.
It was time to lay the Hogwarts floor plan into the place created by the runes to record the structure of Hogwarts.
When Quinn finished drawing the runes and recording floor plans into the map, it was time to connect the map to Hogwarts.
Quinn cleaned the table and the surroundings once again so that only the map was on the table. He took a deep breath and placed his whole hand on the map. Quinn pushed his magic into the cloth base, and both his magic and the cloth thrummed. Runes started to flicker on the cloth base, Quinn's magic activating every single rune in the layers upon layers of clusters drawn into the cloth, and suddenly Quinn felt a foreign wave of magic wash over him.
Quinn knew the source of this magic; it was Hogwarts. It was scanning him, deciding if Quinn and his map should be allowed to be connected to the wards. He had expected this but experiencing it was another thing. Quinn felt nervous and just silently waited, hoping that it would give him access. After a few seconds, the wave of foreign magic disappeared, and Quinn looked down to see the cloth base glowing.
Quinn removed his hand, and when the glow subsided, the map came to life. Quinn smiled as he saw the words appear on the cloth.
「Welcome To Recon」
Quinn's smile reached his ears and his eyes wide in glee as the words disappeared and the map showed him in the center, with the fifth-floor schematics surrounding him. A Blue dot showed his position on the map.
Quinn had constructed his map, Recon, to be much better than Marauder's map. He had color-coded the map for different people; Blue for students, deep-violet for teachers, yellow for ghosts, green for elves, orange for portraits, and red for outsiders.
Quinn stared at himself on the map; the map would always start on his position when activated.
Quinn stared at the map and tested the next feature. He opened his mouth and said a name, "Eddie Carmichael." The map immediately changed and shifted to Eddie's position on the map; he was also on the fifth floor but on the other side in the Ravenclaw common room. The map now showed the structure of the common room around Eddie and the people around him. With Recon, Quinn could immediately find a person just by saying their name. It was quite a handy feature that Quinn wanted in his map. So, he decided to enchant it into the map.
'I mean, it would be a pain to find the person you are looking for throughout the castle. Imagine the time it would take to find someone on the map.'
Quinn could also zoom in and out of the map. And he could manually switch to any floor or person in Hogwarts, including ghosts, portraits, and elves. Another handy feature of the map was it showed passwords to every door and pathway in the school. Recon showed him common room passwords, staff's offices and residence passwords, Headmaster's office's password, or any locked room or pathway. With Recon in his hands, there was no place in Hogwarts that was out of Quinn's reach.
With a wave of his hand, the cloth stiffened. Quinn had used his magic to stabilize the cloth so that it wouldn't crumble as a normal cloth does. Another wave and the cloth levitated in front of him.
"Harry Potter," Quinn ordered, and the map immediately changed to Harry Potter's location. The Boy-Who-Lived was currently in the Viaduct Courtyard, and beside him were Ron Weasley and some other Gryffindor.
'Maybe playing Gobstones with them,' thought Quinn.
"Albus Dumbledore," Quinn spoke another name, and the map complied and showed Albus Dumbledore's spot in deep-violet. He was in his Headmaster's tower, in the Headmaster's office. Quinn could see the password to Dumbledore's office.
Quinn smiled and ordered, "Nights out." The map turned off and crumbled down to the table. Quinn used his magic, and the cloth folded itself and shrunk down to the size of a standard handkerchief. He picked it up and pocketed it.
The map's security was such that it would only work for Quinn. Recon, unlike the Marauder's Map, couldn't be used by anyone but him. Recon needed a code word in his voice, his touch, and Quinn's own magic molded in a specific manner to activate. If even one of them was missing, Recon wouldn't work and would essentially be a piece of cloth.
Quinn walked to one of the wall-side tables and pulled out some sheets of paper from the ream of papers, and wrote down all the things that happened today during the construction of Recon. He made detailed notes, and at the end, made his remark.
[
Project Watch was a success. The creation of the tracking map, Recon, happened without a hitch. Hogwarts provided me access to view the wards. But as expected, I didn't gain access to change them. I believe Hogwarts gave me access because I am a student and no reason else.
Tests of the map also went well, and all the features of the map are functional. I am proud to note that Recon has surpassed Marauder's Map in functionality.
Signing off,
Quinn West.
]
Quinn picked up the papers and walked to the manila folder assigned to the project, and charmed every page in the folder to be unreadable. No one except Quinn could read the contents of the pages. After charming the pages, Quinn packed the pages in the manila folder and sealed the folder so that only he could open it.
Quinn picked up the folder and opened an empty drawer in a filing cabinet, and placed the manila folder of Project Watch in it.
"And, we are done. I always loved a good session of documentation and paperwork," Quinn exhaled a sigh of content.
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
Just a few days after Quinn created Recon, he got his first customer. As usual, Quinn was working in his workshop when he heard a bell. It was one of those bells above the door that would jingle when the door was opened.
Quinn's eyes shined as he conjured a mirror in mid-air and fixed his appearance. He took in a deep breath and said to his reflection, "Let's do this! It is your first customer, be sure to create a great first impression. It might be the make it or break it moment for me."
When he entered the office, he found a Hufflepuff girl standing near the door, looking nervous. Quinn had memorized the names and faces of every student in Hogwarts. So, he knew she was a first-year student.
Quinn put on a comforting smile and said, "Welcome to A.I.D. how may I help you?" He gestured to the girl to sit down as he sat down behind his office desk.
The girl, still nervous, took a seat in the chair in front of the table.
"Before we start, may I ask where did you get my card?" asked Quinn.
The girl looked up towards Quinn and answered, "Umm, I found it in the holders under one of the desks in the Transfiguration classroom."
"Ah, thank you for answering," smiled Quinn. He had left many of his cards in classrooms to increase his customer base, and now looking at this girl, Quinn knew it was the right move.
"What is your name?" asked Quinn as gently as he could.
"Megan Jones," said the girl, and Quinn nodded. Of course, he already knew that.
"I see, now, Ms. Jones, what help do you need from me?"
Megan took out a glass globe on a stand from her book bag and set it on the table. Inside the globe were figures of a man and a woman, and they looked like they were dancing, but the figures were not moving.
"I was wondering if you could fix this for me. The figures in the globe dance, but they haven't been dancing since yesterday," said Megan as she pushed the globe towards Quinn.
Quinn nodded and took the globe in his hands. 'Well, either a part is broken causing the figures to stop dancing, or maybe the animation spell on it has worn down.'
He looked at Megan and asked, "May I use some magic on the globe?" When Megan nodded, Quinn took out his fake wand and casted a Repairing charm (Reparo). The globe glowed, and the figures started dancing realistically.
'It turned out it was the first one,' thought Quinn as he smiled and pushed the now working globe back to Megan, who was smiling in joy and relief.
"Thank you, thank you. My mother gave it to me on my eleventh birthday. I was worried that I had broken it so quickly," Megan said as she hugged the globe, but then she once again became nervous.
"Umm, umm... How much does the repair cost?"
Quinn smiled and answered, "You don't need to pay me, Ms. Jones. Instead, you can owe me a favor in return. Rest assured, it will not be something difficult."
Megan seemed confused but then nodded, "Alright, if it is alright for you. I will take my leave." Quinn nodded but called for her, "Ms. Jones?"
"Yes?" she asked as she got up.
"Do you have my card with you?"
She nodded and took out the A.I.D card from her pocket, "This one, right?"
Quinn nodded and handed her another identical card, "If you see someone in need of help, please give them this card, and send them here."
"Alright, I will. Thank you, again," said Megan before leaving the room.
Quinn closed his eyes and dived into his mindscape. He found himself in a room where he kept records of all Hogwarts students. Quinn recorded everything he knew about the students here. He recorded people's likes, dislikes, friends, enemies, preferences, grades, their thoughts he chanced upon when using legilimency, and anything Quinn knew about a student, it would be here.
Quinn walked to the book he had allotted to Megan Jones, and with a wave of his hand, he had the memory book of his current interaction with her. He pulled out Megan's record memory book from the shelf, and with books in both hands, he bought them close, and the moment they touched, the books combined to become one.
This was one of the techniques Quinn had learned to sort his memories. He could merge memory books for better access. Finally, Quinn immersed himself in Megan's newly updated book to increase his immersion and retention of his memory of her.
When Quinn came out of his mindscape, he smiled and spoke to himself, "One little step closer."
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Has the latest technology in the field of stalking.
Megan Jones - Hufflepuff - First Years - Now owes the devil a favor.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn was peacefully eating his breakfast in the Great Hall when Eddie came barging in and sat beside Quinn, "Hey, did you hear what happened last night?"
Quinn waited till there was no food in his mouth before asking, "You are early today."
"Of course, I am early. You woke me up by kicking me off my bed. I was wide awake the second I felt the ground. Thanks for being gentle," grumbled Eddie as he piled food on his table.
Quinn laughed, "Sorry about that. I misjudged my strength, and you were sleeping too close to the edge of the bed. Don't sweat the small stuff. So, what was the thing you were talking about?" Quinn took a bite from his food.
"Oh, yeah," excitement clear in his voice, "Yesterday, Harry Potter was caught roaming outside after curfew. Then he tried to blame Draco Malfoy for tricking him into breaking the curfew, something about a wizard's duel. I am not really sure."
"Oh, really? That is really interesting," said Quinn as he recalled the book's event of the Midnight duel, where Draco tricked Harry and Ron into coming to the Trophy room on the third floor for a wizard's duel but didn't show up as part of Draco's plan and tipped Filch so that Harry would get in trouble.
'In the canon, they didn't get caught, but this time they did; I wonder if they still found the Cerberus behind the locked door on the third-floor corridor,' thought Quinn before asking, "Was he alone?"
Eddie shook his head, and with food still in his mouth, spoke, "He had Weasley twin's younger brother... and a Gryffindor girl with them."
"Who caught them?"
"They were caught by Filch just outside the Gryffindor common room. Apparently, they were returning from the so-called duel farce," revealed Eddie. "I heard they got a stern scolding from Professor McGonagall and Professor Potter and they say the girl was so scared that she cried, like really hard."
"Ouch," Quinn uttered with a smile on his face. Being scolded by a professor for breaking rules was probably the current Hermione's biggest fear.
"Professor McGonagall said if he did something like this once again, his Quidditch privileges would be taken away, and he won't be allowed to play this year. Here I was thinking McGonagall was becoming what Snape is to Slytherin," scoffed Eddie as he thought about the blatant favoritism given to the Boy-Who-Lived.
Yes, even in this timeline, Harry Potter had managed to get a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If he was good on a broom without ever holding it in eleven years of living in the non-magical community, then this time where he was raised in a magical household, he was just too good to ignore.
Lily did try to forbid Harry from joining the Quidditch team in his first year, but McGonagall was able to convince her to let him join. Quinn wondered what McGonagall say to convince Lily.
Quinn turned to look back towards the Gryffindor; he searched and found Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sitting together.
'Where is Hermione?' wondered Quinn as he searched for her, and to his surprise, Quinn found her sitting with Ivy Potter far away from Harry and Ron. 'Huh, this is new.'
From what he knew, the Potter twins weren't like the Weasley twins and didn't hang out together all the time. The Potter twins were more like Patil twins, where they talked to each other when they got time but mostly did their own thing and sat in different circles.
Quinn watched as both girls talked to each other in hushed tones. From where Quinn could see it, Ivy was consoling a clearly upset Hermione.
'I wonder how would the future pan out for the golden trio,' Quinn looked at Ivy and Hermione and thought, 'I wonder if there will even be a trio this time?'
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
On a Thursday, one hour after the curfew, Quinn was on the tallest tower of Hogwarts, the Astronomy Tower. The highest height one could be in Hogwarts. He was here with his telescope, mapping the star and planets' position for a potion brew that required a specific celestial positioning in one of its steps within the recipe.
He had been coming to the Astronomy Tower for a week to note the position to get some observations required while brewing.
Quinn had his eye looking into the eyepiece of the telescope when he heard a voice that startled him, "Child, you do know that it is after hours, right?"
A startled Quinn almost knocked down his telescope when he turned to see how it was. It slightly relieved Quinn when he saw the Hufflepuff ghost, Fat Friar floating behind him.
"Friar, you almost scared me to death. What are you doing here?" asked Quinn as he patted his chest to calm down his beating heart.
"I should be the one asking that question, little raven. It is after curfew; you should be in your common room and not outside," said Friar as he watched Quinn.
"Ah, I was just doing some work with my telescope," said Quinn, not wanting to give out much information.
Friar stared at Quinn before smiling, "You know, we wondered if you had stopped roaming Hogwarts after curfew, but seeing you here shows that you still have that exploring spirit in you."
"Eh, what do you mean?" asked Quinn in confusion. 'What does Fat Friar mean by that,' he thought.
"Oh, you know, last year, you spent every night outside your common room walking around the castle. We ghosts saw you plenty of times," laughed Friar. "We even saw you earlier this year, but then a few months ago, you stopped appearing, so we wondered where were you?"
Quinn realized what Friar was talking about. After creating Recon, Quinn made sure that no portrait, ghost, house-elf would ever see him in the castle, but before Recon, he didn't have the best tool sneaking tool, so it wasn't a surprise that some ghosts saw him roaming the halls of the castle.
Quinn sat down on the floor of the tower's roof and spoke, "Ah, no, I still come out every day, but I have gotten better at not being seen, haven't I?"
Friar sat down beside Quinn and answered, "Yes, you have. Tell me, why do you hold such interest in the castle?"
"Hmm... I traveled many places throughout the world, saw many intriguing and magical sights in those places, but I never stayed more than a few days. Hogwarts is a wondrous place, and in my mind, it would be an utter waste not to know more about it. I have time so why not explore it," Quinn looked at Friar and said, "You studied here when the founders were alive. Has it changed since then?"
Friar hummed in thought before saying, "Oh yes, it has changed. The castle wasn't as great during the founders' time. The castle has aged well with time, as wine does. I have been here for so long and have seen the change. It has gone from being a building built by the founders and the architect to become a magnificent and magical place. Full of life and joy. Magic is a great thing and it breathed life into the castle."
Quinn stared at the stars in thought, "It is indeed a mysterious place. I have learned a lot from it. Full of knowledge and wisdom."
"There has been chatter among the ghosts that you have been helping students. That room of yours on the fifth floor. You have been doing a lot of good," said Friar.
Quinn chuckled at Friar's words, "Now I know I have made it big if even the dead are talking about me."
Quinn's consultation service business has been coming along quite nicely. Even though the requests he was getting were minor repairs, help with homework, and other menial tasks, his customer base was still growing steadily.
But, these minor tasks were enough for Friar as it was his nature to look at people's good qualities and ignore their faults.
"I think that you have been doing an excellent job, and I appreciate your services to your fellow students, so I will give you a gift, a gift that you will like," Friar said in a joyous tone.
Quinn was skeptical about the so-called gift, but he still listened; after all, Helen Ravenclaw led Voldemort to her mother's diadem.
"As you love exploring the castle so much. I will start you on an adventure, little raven. In Hogwarts, there are these Cursed Vaults, legendary rooms hidden around the castle, they are hiding secrets, not known to anyone but the creators." Friar stared into Quinn's eyes as he revealed, "Each room is guarded, guarded by curses and wards that stop the seekers from entering them, keeping the secrets inside safe. Not even us house ghosts know who built them or when they were built. The origin of the vaults has been forgotten by everyone. Among the many theories circulating, some say that the founders created them or that a Headmaster who suffered from paranoia created them to hide his treasure, or that the architect who helped the founders build Hogwarts built these vaults to hide something of great importance."
Friar's words fully captured Quinn's attention, a part of Hogwarts that he didn't know or mentioned in the books. He wanted to learn more about these vaults.
"If you asked my friend, Nicholas, he would say that the vaults hold back dangerous things from being unleashed into the world, or house dangerous secrets that would bring doom if fallen into the wrong hands, but he is always overthinking stuff. Other ghosts alleged that these vaults house priceless treasures such as gold, prophecies, and other powerful magical artifacts dating back to before the school was founded, while others believe they contained Dark Magic. But, ultimately, no one knows what is inside," said Friar.
"Noting your interest in exploration and learning, I will give you some hints for location of the vaults, and it is up to you if you can find the vaults and enter them to find what is inside. Do note that the vaults might be dangerous and might cause you harm, so I will advise that you proceed cautiously."
Friar floated up and asked seriously, "So, I ask you, little raven. Do you want to embark on this adventure, knowing well that it might not end well? Do you want to uncover the secrets of Hogwarts, not knowing what you will see inside? Say the word, and you shall receive my answer. Refuse and we will part ways."
Quinn stood up and faced Friar. He had immediately made his decision. In front of him was an opportunity that not many received, a chance to explore an unknown part of Hogwarts.
"Friar, I will take on this adventure from you, I will see what Hogwarts hides, what it offers, knowing that it might not end well, knowing that I might not get anything from these vaults. Despite all of this, I want to know, I want to know the hint to the vaults."
Friar nodded and sang,
[
Beyond sight exist five vaults, not known to many.
Their source unknown; lost in time.
Bearing the knowledge that death might come,
I give you the hint of the first one.
A vault so cold that even death might die,
You will find it on the level five stories high.
]
Quinn nodded and immediately memorized the hint, and just to be safe, he noted the words on a sheet of paper.
"I have given this riddle to many students and even some teachers throughout the years, but only a handful of them were able to find the first vault. And, none of those were ever able to enter the first vault and were stopped at the vault entrance," said Friar as he gazed down on Quinn.
Quinn read the riddle over and over again before looking up at the floating Friar and grinned, "Then get ready; I will be the first one to enter the vault and move onto the second one and the next. Someday, I will enter all five."
Friar gently smiled and floated away without saying a word while Quinn stared at the clue and then at the stars, wondering about this new adventure that had fallen into his lap.
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
Time slowly passed, and Halloween rolled around. When Quinn exited the common room for his morning run, the smell of baking pumpkin greeted him, wafting through the corridors.
"The elves are hard at work, as always," Quinn spoke to himself as he jogged down the corridors to the grounds for his run. Quinn was in a good mood, as today he would get to meet a troll. He was not going to miss this opportunity.
"Oh troll~, I am coming for you. Going to do some ass-kicking, and no one is going to know, nobody, nobody. Dancing with the trolls, Halloween has come. Oh, magic, you are AMAZING!" sang Quinn as he ran his usual route. Quinn was excited that he colored the grass on his entire route orange and purple in the spirit of Halloween.
When Quinn dressed up for the day, he put on his wizard's hat that no one wore for the day and pinned a conjured small lapel pin in the shape of a carved pumpkin to his robes for fun.
When he got down to the Great Hall for breakfast, his eyes caught Flitwick reading the Daily Prophet, so he decided to wish him a happy Halloween, but in a special way.
Quinn stood just beside the entrance of the great hall and took out his fake wand for show. He then used the same magic Flitwick had used to call him to give his keys on the first day of school.
"Professor Flitwick, good morning, and I wish you a spooky Halloween." Quinn's words went straight to Flitwick without leaking mid-way.
Flitwick smiled and raised his head from the table to greet the student who spoke and found no one in front of his spot on the High Table.
"Huh, who was that?" Flitwick looked around the confusion.
"Over here, professor.," spoke Quinn while still standing near the Great Hall entrance.
Flitwick frantically stood on his chair and looked around to see who was calling for him but still couldn't find anyone.
Quinn smiled and decided to end this and said, "Near the entrance, professor." And raised his hand to wave so that Flitwick could see him.
Flitwick, from his table, looked towards the entrance and saw Quinn waving his hand with his wand tip on his throat.
"This is how you did it, professor. I must say it is a fun piece of magic," said Quinn.
A wide smile bloomed on Flitwick's face as he jumped on his chair while clapping. He also took out his wand and placed it on his throat, and spoke, "Excellent execution, Mr. West. Five points for an impressive showcase and five more because it is Halloween." His words charmed to reach Quinn's ears only.
"Thank you, professor," Quinn replied and then skipped to the Ravenclaw table for a hearty breakfast.
When Quinn was eating, he felt a pat on his shoulder. He looked back to see Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass.
"Happy Halloween, Quinn," Tracey spoke, being her usual bubbly self.
Quinn smiled wide and said, "Ah, my favorite Slytherin." He turned to Daphne and spoke to her, "Just to be clear, I am talking about Davis and not you, Greengrass." Quinn had promoted Tracey and Daphne from Ms. Davis and Ms. Greengrass to just their surname.
Daphne narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything, while Tracey giggled in response.
"Davis, if more Slytherin were like you, the world would be a better place," Quinn spoke to Tracey but looked at Daphne with a smile.
Tracey laughed again while Daphne continued to ignore him.
"So, what is happening with you guys, anything new with you?" asked Quinn.
Tracey's eyes sparkled as she talked, "We finally learned how to make things fly." The first-year students were finally learning the Levitation Charm.
Quinn clapped once before picking two apples from a platter and placing them on the table. He gestured to the two girls and said, "Do try."
Tracey looked at Daphne and telling her to take her wand and cast some magic. Daphne sighed and took out her wand, knowing that her best friend won't stop if she refused. Tracey grinned and took out her wand as well.
"Wingardium Leviosa," chanted both the Slytherin girls. The two apples rose from the table, albeit a little slowly. Quinn smiled as he looked from the apples to the girls with a smile and spoke, "Good work, a little slow, but a good start. Remember, practice makes perfect."
Both of them stopped casting at the same time, and the apples stopped floating. Luckily Quinn was ready, he immediately caught them and placed them back on the table
Daphne pocketed her wand and humphed, "Why don't you show if you are so good." The smile on Quinn's face turned into one of amusement, and he said, "Alright."
He turned back to the Ravenclaw and called out, "Hilliard, a Scouring charm on my hands, please."
Hilliards, a fifth-year prefect, looked up from his book and took out his wand with a sigh before casting a Scrouring charm (Scrougefy) charm on Quinn's hand, cleaning them instantly.
"Thanks," said Quinn before turning to Tracey and Daphne. "Had to get my hands clean, now, where were we? Ah, yes, the Levitation charm." Quinn took out his fake wand and performed the wand movement just for show and whispered the incantation, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The apples that Quinn had set on the table began floating and started rapidly moving.
"Levitating multiple objects, neat, right? With some practice, you could do it too. Remember, the wand movement and incantation are not the main part of a spell. You have to understand the underlying concept behind the spell. Understand that, and you will master spells at a quick pace," Quinn pointed at the High table and continued, "Not my words, this piece of wisdom comes directly from Professor Flitwick."
Quinn waved his fake wand straight down, and the apples set themselves down gently on the table.
"As I said, practice makes perfect." Quinn pocketed his fake wand and folded his hands in his lap.
Daphne looked at the two apples and then at Quinn before seriously nodding.
Quinn smiled; from his interaction with Daphne, he had come to understand her personality. She didn't trust people quickly and preferred a few close and genuine friends rather than many friendly acquaintances. She was a private person. Plus, she had seen the difference between how Quinn interacted with Tracey and other students; Quinn was much friendlier to Tracey than others, so she had doubts about him.
Quinn waved the Slytherin girls goodbye and proceeded on with his day, waiting for the evening to arrive.
-*-*-*-*-*-
[
A/N [1: The concept of these Vaults comes from the game, Harry Potter: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. I haven't played the games, so a lot of the things might be different, plus I am working off the Wiki page.
]
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - A lot is going in his life; Consultation, Vaults, and Trolls.
Fat Friar - Hufflepuff's ghost - A clergy when he was alive.
Tracey Davis - Slytherin - Hides Slytherin qualities behind her bubbly personality.
Daphne Greengrass - Slytherin - Doesn't trust people easily.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
The time was ten minutes before the Halloween feast, and Quinn was on the first floor hiding in the History of Magic classroom, waiting for the feast to start, and in turn, the beginning of the first of many Halloween mishaps in the life of Harry Potter.
Recon, the tracking map, laid on the table in front of him. He was looking at the map and tracking people of interest on Recon. He saw Hermione Granger in the first floor's girl's lavatory.
'Probably crying in there because of Ron Weasley,' thought Quinn as he absentmindedly tapped on the map. There was still no sign of trolls, and Quirrell wasn't in Hogwarts as when Quinn spoke his name, the map didn't react.
Just a minute before the feast, the map reacted when Quinn searched for Quirrell, and the map switched to show the first floor, near Gregory the Smarmy's statue, a deep-violet spot showing Quirrell and a red spot with Troll written on it.
'He is here!' Quinn stood up from his chair and looked at the map. 'Gregory the Smarmy's statue, that is a secret passage, isn't it? Was he hiding a troll in that passage? Is this why the Troll didn't show up on the map?' The secret passage's entrances and the part of passages within Hogwarts premises were visible on the map, but the outer part of the secret passages wasn't part of Hogwarts, so they didn't show up on the map.
Quinn watched the map as the Troll and Quirrell parted ways as the Troll slowly wandered around the first floor, and Quirrell headed towards the staircase, but what happened next betrayed Quinn's expectation as Quirrell didn't climb down the stairs but climbed up to the second floor.
Quinn frowned as the map switched to the staircase and then the second floor, "Where is he going?" Quinn began tapping his feet as he felt the events change from his canon knowledge.
'No, don't rush. Quirrell might have something to do and might get back to the feast after this. The books didn't specify when Quirrell entered the Great Hall to reveal the Troll.'
Quinn's hunch turned out to be correct as Quirrell stopped next to the stairs to the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor's office. He disappeared into the secret passage there, and a minute later, Quirrell emerged with another Troll.
"Another Troll?! What is happening?" Quinn pounded his fist on the table as he decided to look at the first Troll and got another shock when he found Ivy Potter in the girl lavatory with Hermione Granger.
"What is she doing there?! Come on, people, why are you doing this to me?" Quinn whined as he didn't know what to do.
'Which Troll should I go to?'
Quinn needed to decide quickly, and after thinking about it, he decided to go to the new Troll on the second floor. The second Troll was hanging out near the staircase, and if it made its way to the stairs, the Troll might meet the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students when they are going to their common room.
He decided to leave Hermione and Ivy in the hands of fate. He convinced himself that they won't be harmed and would come out of this unharmed.
'Fate's a bitch, but she has her moments. Let's hope she doesn't screw this up,' Quinn thought as he levitated Recon beside him, and the second Quirrell was on the ground floor, he ran up the stairs to the second floor.
"Let's take down a Troll, shall we?" Quinn looked at Recon, and before proceeding forward, turned himself invisible. He didn't want any ghosts, house-elves, or portraits seeing him fight a troll.
He smirked and quoted a line from the books, "I don't need a cloak to become invisible."
Quinn followed the path to the Troll by observing Recon and stopped just a turn away from the Troll. He deactivated Recon and stored it in his clothes.
He walked ahead, and after turning right on a corner, saw Quirrell's second Troll.
The Troll was twelve feet tall; its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It held a massive wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.
A terrible sight right out of a horror movie, but Quinn had been in the magical world long enough to have seen a lot of magical beasts, and the sight of Troll didn't disturb him, but the smell sure did. It was so bad that Quinn wanted to leave right away, but he had work to do.
"Let's get this over with you smelly bastard."
Quinn primed his magic for battle, and for his first course of action, immediately sent a highly charged Dark Art's version of Explosion charm toward the Troll's groin, aiming for the delicate part of a male's body. The result was as Quinn expected as the Troll moved his hands towards the region of the explosion while roaring in pain and shook.
During his studies, Quinn had found some interesting facts about some non-dark that could be used to cause damage to a person. It turned out that spells like Explosion charm that exploded objects, Severing Charm that could be used to cut objects, Reductor charm that turned objects to dust were inherently created for non-living targets.
They could be used on humans and could definitely cause bodily harm but weren't efficient magic-wise. The amount of magic used to cause substantial damage to the human body didn't sit well with Quinn, and the creators did not design the formation of these spells for living beings, so he leaned into Dark Art's spells for bodily harm.
Dark Arts spells were specially crafted for causing harm to the living and caused much greater damage with less magic and more efficiency.
"Aaargh!" roared the Troll in pain. Quinn might have overdone it with the Dark-Explosion charm's strength.
'Ouchy! Well, at least I know the Troll is a male,' thought Quinn but didn't stop; he had to continue as trolls were dangerous beings.
'I have to get rid of that club in his hand,' planned Quinn, and to accomplish disarming the Troll of his huge club, immediately shot a Dark-Reductor curse on the Troll's club bearing hand, causing the Troll to drop the club.
Quinn noticed why the Trolls were classified as highly dangerous magical beings. The heavily charged Dark-Reductor curse Quinn just shot right now would have turned a person's hand to a bloody pulp, but all it did to the Troll was causing a flesh wound.
'Need to practice the Dark spells to increase my mastery,' analyzed Quinn, not considering that he was basing his standards on a tough-skinned Troll.
Quinn's eyes flashed as he sent a Banishing spell towards the fallen club to distance it from the Troll. The club went flying away from the Troll, and with the club away from the Troll, Quinn raised his hand and aimed towards the Troll; taking a deep breath, Quinn started a continuous spell chain of Dark-Explosion charm and Dark-Reductor curse on the Troll's body.
"Aargh!" "oOoOO!!" "Rawr!" The Troll's scream echoed in the corridor as the spell did damage to the Troll.
In the empty corridor with fire torches as the only source of light, every other second, a dark spell would be shot from Quinn, illuminating the surroundings and zap towards the Troll, aiming for weak spots like the face, neck, kneecaps, and not the least the groin. Quinn, without mercy, ripped the Troll's body bloody, not stopping until the Troll fell down to the ground with a heavy thump, causing slight tremors to pass through the floor.
From the groans and grunts of agony coming from the Troll, Quinn could hear that the Troll was alive, but having been the one to do damage, Quinn was sure that it won't be standing up anytime soon.
'And, Ron Weasley knocked the troll down with a blunt blow to the head,' speculated Quinn as he compared his method of dismantling the Troll to the canon's Troll fight.
Taking out his pocket watch, Quinn looked at the time. He had spent a considerable amount of time here; he needed to join the other students to avoid suspicion. Quinn turned away from the Troll and ran away. As he ran, Quinn activated Recon and looked for the Ravenclaw students; he found them moving up the staircase and decided to blend in with the crowd at the stairs. Quinn waited until they were a little ahead of him and then lifted his invisibility.
Making sure that he wasn't seen, he entered the crowd and pushed his way into the horde of students to reach Eddie and Marcus.
"Hey, mates." casually greeting his roommates as nothing had happened, and Quinn hadn't just returned from a fight with a Troll.
Eddie grabbed Quinn by the robes and harshly whispered, "Where in the world were you?! Do you know what is happening out there?! I was worried about you, man!" If they weren't on the stairs, Eddie would have pulled Quinn into a hug.
Quinn put on a nervous expression and spun a story, "Well, I was in the library and was running a little late. I was walking to the Great Hall, but then nature called, and I had to visit the loo. When I was done and was finally on my way to the Great Hall for the feast, one portrait warned me that there was a Troll loose in the castle and told me that the students were returning to their common rooms, and then I found you guys here."
Eddie and Marcus breathed a sigh of relief that Quinn didn't meet or saw the Troll.
But, Quinn was a little occupied as with other thoughts; to make sure that professors did not suspect him when they found the second Troll, he had rushed to join the students, so he hadn't the time to check what happened with the first Troll, he wasn't sure if Ivy and Hermione had escaped unharmed. Currently, he wanted to get to the common room and check Recon for their status.
After a long and thorough roll call in the common room, Quinn hurriedly climbed up the stairs to the boy's dorm, went to his bed, and drew the curtain for the excuse of privacy for changing clothes; he took out Recon and sharply whispered, "Hermione Granger."
The layout of Recon switched to a corridor near the Gryffindor Tower. Quinn saw Hermione, Ivy, Harry, Ron, and Lily Potter walking towards the Gryffindor common room.
"They are safe," sighed Quinn as he leaned on the backboard of his bed. Quinn continued to watch as the group reached the common room entrance, and it made Quinn smile as Recon showed the Gryffindor common room password, 'Pig snout.'
He turned Recon off, Quinn was hungry, and the food was ready in the common room. If he had stayed and checked on the Trolls, he would have found the professors moving towards the Troll he took down.
- (Scene Break) -
All the professors, excluding Dumbledore, Snape, and Binns, walked on the second floor. A ghost had told them about a second Troll on the second floor.
"The ghost seemed troubled by something. What was wrong with that ghost?" Pomona Sprout asked her colleagues as she recalled how the ghost had run away just after telling them about the second Troll.
Flitwick looked at the Herbology master and shrugged, "I don't know, but the ghost did seem awfully frantic."
When they reached a corner, all the professors smelled a rancid and offending stench. McGonagall stopped and warned, "Wands out, the Troll is just around the corner."
The professors didn't need a second warning as everybody drew their wands. Though they did hear Quirrell make a sound, 'Eep!' as the Defense Against Dark Arts professor fumbled to take out his wand.
"Don't lose focus," warned McGonagall as all of them turned the corridor to see a shocking sight. They saw a Troll, but not in the condition they were expecting.
"W-Why is it laying d-down," stuttered Quirrell as he looked at the second Troll that he had released in Hogwarts. Today wasn't panning out as Quirrell and Voldemort had planned, the first Troll was taken down the damned Potters, and now this second Troll was laying down in the middle of a corridor.
"Is it sleeping?" Aurora Sinistra, the Astronomy professor, took a guess.
Silvanus Kettleburn, the professor of Care of Magical Creatures, grunted in response, "No, you stupid girl, look closely; the Troll is bleeding." With his prosthetic legs, he moved towards the Troll.
"Kettleburn!" McGonagall tried to stop Silvanus, but the old professor kept walking towards the Troll.
"Oh, Morgana!" they heard Silvanus gasp. "Come here, right now!" Silvanus called out to them.
When they reached the Troll's body, they saw the gruesome sight that made all of them gasp.
"Merlin!" "What is this?" "Who-!" "How horrific."
They saw the terrible injuries and trauma on the Troll's body. Horrifying wounds that were bleeding profusely, leaking blood everywhere.
"These wounds..." muttered Lily as she took in the horrendous sight in front of her.
Silvanus looked at Flitwick and grunted, "Flitwick, check them."
The half-goblin immediately understood the meaning behind Silvanus' words and casted some spell all over the Troll's body, and the spell light all turned grey the second they hit the Troll.
"Dark spells," announced Flitwick as he looked at Silvanus.
"What!" McGonagall was shocked to hear that. She casted her own spells on the Troll, and they too turned grey on contact.
"Who could do this?" Septima Vector, the Arithmancy professor, wondered aloud. All the professors were wondering the same, someone had fought a Troll in Hogwarts with Dark spells, and no one knew who it was.
Some of them even noticed how the damage was isolated to the jaw, neck, kneecaps, and groin. Plus, they also saw the club far away from where the Troll had collapsed. The person who fought the Troll knew what they were doing.
"How did someone even know that there was a second Troll," asked Lily. She then turned to Quirrell and asked, "Professor Quirrell, is this the Troll from the third floor?"
Quirrell shook his head while fidgeting and stuttered, "N-No, t-the cloth-thes are different. T-This one is a di-fferent one."
McGonagall looked at all her colleagues and said, "Let's get the Troll out of here, this place needs to be cleaned before a student sees it, and I need to take to Albus about this."
- (Scene Break) -
The next day, Quinn had his ears up to listen if there was any news about the Trolls, but there was no news. No one was talking about there being a second Troll on the loose.
'The staff suppressed the news among themselves, huh,' speculated Quinn. He also noticed that even though people talked about the first Troll, no one chattered about the Potters, which meant that no one knew what happened yesterday.
Unfortunately, that also meant Quinn didn't have a clue of what took place yesterday. But, he had a way of knowing about it, and he was currently on his way to find out.
It was lunchtime, and Quinn was using Recon to tracking the position of Ron Weasley. He was waiting for Ron to be alone, so he could get some information from the redhead, and the chance came when Ron separated from his friends and headed to the lavatory.
Quinn deactivated Recon and followed Ron to the lavatory. Just before he entered the lavatory, Quinn put on gloves and made himself invisible. Quinn entered the lavatory and waited for Ron to finish business, and when Ron was washing his hand, Quinn stepped behind him and took out a small vial of potion.
The potion in the vial was a sedative agent that would make the consumer calm and put them in a hazy state susceptible to suggestions.
Quinn was going to use Legilimency on Ron, but his level of Legilimency wasn't at the level where he could find the memories quickly. If Quinn wanted to target specific memories, it would take him time to find and reach said memories, and in this case, he didn't have the time. So, Quinn was planning to use this potion to render Ron into a semiconscious state and work with that.
He opened the vial and used the magic to manipulate the liquid to turn into mist, then he directed the mist to enter Ron through his nose, and the effect was almost immediate. Ron felt the potion's effects and felt the world turn cloudy, and an unnatural sense of emptiness and haziness fell on him.
"Wha' is happenin'?" Ron's words slurred, and the next second he felt his eyes get covered. Quinn, who was behind Ron, gently used his hand to make Ron close his eyes. He raised his other hand and put his index finger on Ron's temple, and spoke, "How are you feeling, Ron?"
There was a pause before Ron slurred, "Wierrdd~."
"It's okay, mate, everything is going to be fine. Follow my lead, and you feel normal. Do you want to feel normal?" Quinn guided Ron and made him feel comfortable.
"Yezz~."
"Good, now all you have to do is think about yesterday when you met the Troll. Can you do that for me, mate?"
Quinn couldn't search through someone's memories quickly, but if someone was thinking about them, then it would become mighty easy as the memory would be on the surface of the person's psyche. Quinn was using his words and the potion to bring yesterday's memories to the surface.
"Trull~?" as Ron said that Quinn used Legilimency and dived into Ron's mind, and as he expected, found the memory.
In the memory, Harry noticed his sister Ivy wasn't in the Great Hall. Then Ron and Harry recalled Parvati Patil telling them about Hermione crying in the lavatory and how Ivy had torn into them just after the Charms class when Ron had said rude things to Hermione.
In the memory, Harry spoke, "I am sure that Ivy went to see Hermione; they might not know about the Troll. We have to find them."
Ron replied, "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But, Percy better not see us."
On their way, they saw Snape, but Harry was too worried about Ivy to care about Snape, so he pulled Ron with him, and when they reached the lavatory, they saw the Troll.
The Troll had his club raised, but it was tilting sideways. In the memory, Quinn noticed that the Troll was trying to hit Ivy and Hermione with its club, but the girls had their wands out, pointed towards the Troll's club.
A flash of realization stuck Quinn, 'They are using the Levitation charm to keep the Troll's club away from them.' The Troll being the epitome of stupidity wasn't letting the club go and held onto it. It was trying to use its club to hit the girls.
Ivy looked at Harry and yelled, "Use the Levitation charm on the club. The Troll is too strong; we can't get it out its hand."
Harry was confused but followed nevertheless. He took out his wand, and Ron followed. Harry succeeded in using the spell with moderate success, but Ron was having trouble using the spell.
The memory switched to Hermione trying to teach Ron how to use the Levitation charm. The memory shifted back to the lavatory, and Ron properly yelled, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The club that was now subjected to four Levitation charm pulled itself free out of the Troll's hands as the Troll tried to reach out for it, and then just like the canon, fell onto the Troll's head accompanied by a loud, sickening crack. The Troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the entire room tremble.
Quinn had seen enough, so he stopped and bought himself out of the memory.
"Good job, mate. You have done well. Now, everything will be alright, and when everything returns to normal, we will talk about Quidditch," calmly said, Quinn.
"Quiwwitch!" slurred an excited Ron.
Quinn removed his index finger from Ron's temple and took out another vial from his pockets, and vaporized the contents for Ron to inhale. It was the counter agent for the earlier potion.
The second Quinn was done, he removed his hand from Ron's eyes and walked away without looking away.
It took a few seconds for Ron to regain his mental facilities, and when he was back to normal, he had a pleasant urge to talk about Quidditch.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn West - MC - Troll Hunter - Experienced in Hypnotism.
The second Troll - Mountain Troll - Argh!
Ron Weasley - Gryffindor - "Hey, Harry, let's talk about Quidditch!"
-*-*-*-*-*-
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-*-*-*-*-*-
Quinn sat in his workshop with a sheet of paper sitting on the table in front of Quinn. The sheet of paper contained the riddle given to him by Friar that held the clue to the first unknown vault.
[
Beyond sight exist five vaults, not known to many.
Their source unknown; lost in time.
Bearing the knowledge that death might come,
I give you the hint of the first one.
A vault so cold that even death might die,
You will find it on the level five stories high.
]
Quinn tapped his finger on the table as he read the riddle, and it was fairly easy to understand.
"There are five cursed vaults in Hogwarts, and as Friar said, not many people know about the vaults. No one knows how they were created or who created them. And because they have never been opened, no one knows about the contents," Quinn deciphered the meaning of the first paragraph of the riddle.
Now, the second paragraph contained some information that Friar hadn't given him. "Now, how does Friar know that there is danger in the vaults; he has never been in there, which could mean that the entrance of the first vault holds some sort of danger, and people have died attempting to enter the vault."
This part of the riddle did worry him a tiny bit. Quinn wasn't a fearless person; he worried about his health and safety and wanted to be perfectly safe before proceeding forward. But, in this situation, he didn't know how to ensure his safety. There were no precedents for Quinn to reference; he was going in blind this time.
Until now, Quinn had been preoccupied with preparing for the Troll incident, but he had tried to collect some information about these vaults from any source he could, but he wasn't able to find anything. The Room of Requirement didn't have anything on the vaults, neither did the library. The ghosts couldn't tell him anything regarding the vault. He even went to the kitchen to talk to the elves, but they too had nothing to inform him.
"This will be a new challenge for me," muttered Quinn as he exhaled a sigh.
The last paragraph of the riddle was the real clue. The lines represented information about the first vault.
"A vault so cold that even death might die," recited Quinn as he tried to understand the meaning behind the sentence.
"A vault so cold..." murmured Quinn as he tapped his finger on the table. "What can that mean? Is the room freezing; is it a room with an alternate environment, a tundra, or a permafrost type environment." Quinn had read about artificially cultivated environments within closed spaces. The best example he could give was Newt Scamander's trunk; it had various habitats for different magical beasts.
The second part of the sentence was also intriguing, "... that even death might die." Quinn wrinkled his nose before clinking his tongue, "I hate metaphors. Death might die... what does that mean?"
From the top of his head, Quinn could only think that the room was north pole cold, "Maybe whatever is in the room is encased by an icecap, is that it?" Quinn scribbled some notes before moving to the final line.
"You will find it on the level five stories high," Quinn smiled when he read this line, "Now this is much better, on the level five stories high means the fifth floor, but if we count the basement, then it might be the fourth floor... hmm, two whole floors worth of search-area."
Recon didn't show any sign of vaults, just like it didn't show the Room Of Requirements. Well, Quinn had tried to enchant the position of the Room Of Requirements in the map but didn't achieve any success as any person inside the room was invisible. When Quinn opened the map inside the Room Of Requirements, he didn't show up on Recon.
The vaults were unplottable. Or, at least Quinn couldn't plot them with his current capabilities.
"I have been on the fourth-floor and fifth-floor a lot, but I haven't felt any unnatural cold on any of the floors," pondered Quinn.
Quinn had mapped out Hogwarts' entirety for Recon, and he had memorized every inch of the castle for his mindscape transition. Quinn had given himself two years for replicating a working model of Hogwarts in his mind, and his current progress covered floors ground till sixth. Only the dungeons and seventh floor were remaining in Quinn's mind replica. But despite this, Quinn had no clue about there being a vault on the fourth or fifth floor.
"This demands another round of late-night, after-curfew exploration."
Quinn opened a new project in his workshop and named it,
「Project: Vaults」
Under the 「Project: Vaults」 he opened a chapter,
「Chapter: Vault One (Temp.)」
From that day onwards, Quinn combed through the two floors at night, after the curfew.
.
- (Scene Break) -
.
At night, Quinn searched for Vault number one. But, during the day, he was still a student of Hogwarts, attending class, learning magic, practicing magic in Room Of Requirements, working at the A.I.D office, and monitoring what was happening around Hogwarts.
As the year entered November, the weather turned frigid. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost, and students had to walk carefully to not risk slipping. Quinn created an exercise out of the frosted surface.
In the morning, during his run, Quinn would turn all the ice he encountered into ice objects like flowers, ravens, snakes, lions, badgers, and anything that came into his mind. An exercise designed to exercise his focus and control over his magic.
But, enough about that, and back to the next key event of this year, Harry Potter's first Quidditch event. In the canon, Quirrell and Snape were locked in a battle of cursing and counter-cursing Harry's broom, and Hermione had unknowingly knocked Quirrellmort while trying to get to Snape.
Speaking of Harry and Hermione, the golden trio didn't form in this world. Quinn had observed them and found that Hermione and Ivy had gotten really close, whereas Harry and Ron were already friends from before.
Harry Potter in this world was confident and outgoing. He was also involved in pranks, so he was always butting heads with rule-loving Hermione, so their relationship was quite rocky in this world.
But after the Troll incident, they had mellowed towards each other and were much more willing to tolerate each other. Ron had also toned down his insults towards Hermione and only provoked her if she berated Ron's intelligence and manners.
Instead of Harry and Ron becoming best friends with Hermione, Ivy had become best friends with Hermione. The two girls did everything together, and it reminded Quinn of Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass.
Still, Quinn was relieved by this outcome. At least with this, Hermione would still be in the loop regarding things around Harry as the Boy-Who-Lived was close to his twin sister, and Hermione was close to Ivy Potter. Quinn was sure that the challenges they had ahead of them would help these four build a bond similar to that of the golden trio of the canon.
Coming to the present time, Quinn was standing near the restricted part of the third-floor corridor, the part that held the entrance to the Philosopher's stone chamber, guarded by the creations of the Hogwarts professors. He was going to enter the special chamber and try to look at the Philosopher's stone.
It was broad daylight and not the usual hour of operation for Quinn, who liked to pretend as a normal student during the day and do his extra-curricular work after school during the evening and night.
But, the opportunity was perfect as today was the first match of the Quidditch season, and the Boy-Who-Lived, the youngest seeker in Hogwarts history, was playing. A great majority of the school population was at the stadium to see the game.
This game was also the one where Quirrellmort tried to curse Harry's broom so that he could injure Harry, and Snape fought against Quirrellmort by counter-cursing to save Harry. In the canon, Hermione thought Snape was trying to harm Harry and took action to stop him but unknowingly knocked into Quirrell, who was the real preparator.
Quinn didn't care for this event and was going to leave Harry's protection to Snape. 'He will work harder. I am sure he doesn't want his love of life to see her child get gravely injured in front of her,' thought Quinn as he prepared for infiltration.
Quinn was going to use the game and infiltrate the defenses guarding the stone. Quinn really wanted to observe the stone for educational curiosity. With the whole school there, Quinn had plenty of time to go in and out.
Quinn stood in front of the door, and before opening it, he checked it out for wards. He shot out detection spells all around the locked door but didn't find a single ward on the door.
"This is reckless carelessness. Did Dumbledore really not put a single ward on the door; what was he thinking? Or, maybe there are wards, and I just can't detect them," wondered Quinn. He hesitated about their being high-level wards he couldn't detect but decided to risk it, "Whatever, let's enter this thing."
Quinn silently casted an Unlocking charm (Alohomora), and with a click, the door opened. Before entering the room, Quinn made himself invisible and took a deep breath before entered the room. He was immediately was greeted by low, rumbling growls.
Quinn saw the first challenge/defense, set up by Rubeus Hagrid. The obstacle was to get past Fluffy was a gigantic, monstrous male three-headed dog, a magical beast species known as Cerberus who was once cared for by Rubeus Hagrid. Fluffy was raised by Hagrid and loaned to Albus Dumbledore. To aid in guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Fluffy's greatest weakness was the inability to resist falling asleep to the sound of music.
Quinn saw the Cerberus get up and sniffed around to the person who it couldn't see. Quinn stood perfectly still before slowly conjuring a violin; It was an exact replica of Quinn's violin. Quinn didn't want to bring his beloved violin in fear that it would get damaged.
Quinn scowled at the conjured violin. It felt different in Quinn's hand; It felt like an inferior product. Quinn sighed before starting playing a tune on the violin.
Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending began flowing through the room as the Cerberus stopped looking around and looked towards the floating violin with all its three heads and six eyes.
Slowly, but surely, the Cerberus' eyes drooped, and his frequent growls ceased, and it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.
Quinn moved through the room while playing the violin, and after walking by one of the Cerberus' paws, he found the trapdoor. With a look at the door, the ring handle pulled itself up, followed up by the trapdoor itself.
Quinn stopped playing the violin, vanished it, and immediately jumped into the darkness inside the trapdoor. The Cerberus slowly woke up, shaking off the sleepiness, and looked around but saw no one, its three heads and six eyes missing the swiftly closing trapdoor.
Quinn landed on soft ground. The cold, damp air surrounded him as he felt plants around him.
'Devil's snare,' thought Quinn. The second challenge/defense, set up by the Herbology professor, Pomona Sprout.
Devil's Snare was a magical plant in the shape of a mass of soft, springy tendrils and vines that possess some sense of touch with the instinct to constrict or strangle anything in its surrounding environment or something that happens to touch it. Devil's Snare wasn't a carnivorous plant and didn't consume its victim.
The plant used its creepers and tendrils to entrap anyone who touched it, binding their arms and legs and eventually choking them. The harder a person struggles against Devil's Snare, the faster and more tightly it binds them.
Quinn felt the Devil's Snare creep up his body, but he didn't move or even tried to use magic. He just stood there, waiting for the Devil's Snare to surround him, and it did, slowly creeping over his over body, entrapping him in its vines and tendrils.
Quinn had read about the Devil's Snare and how if you stayed relaxed, it wouldn't suffocate a person, and Quinn wanted to see if it was true. He waited for thirty seconds, and the wines didn't tighten around him and just covered him, treating him like a wall or an immovable object.
'Okay, this is enough,' thinking that he charged up his magic, and multiple balls of harsh light appeared in the room full of Devil's Snare, scaring them as the wines hurriedly retreated from Quinn's body as it tried to shield itself away from the light.
Quinn didn't use fire to not wanting to damage the wines. He didn't want to leave any evidence in case the professors came to check on the defenses.
Wasting no time, Quinn walked towards the stony passageway free of Devil's Snare. The passage was dead silent as Quinn walked down the downward slope towards the next room.
Quinn knew he was near the next obstacle as he heard the rustling and clinking sounds from ahead. He reached the end of the passageway and saw a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"The winged keys," muttered Quinn as he took in the sight of at least a hundred winged keys. The flock moved randomly and rapidly, making it hard to keep track of an individual key.
Quinn looked at the old wooden door and then back to the flock of key birds.
"An old key for an old door," thought Quinn, but before that, he tried to summon the ring by using a Summoning charm (Accio), but alas, Flitwick had charmed them impervious to being summoned.
Quinn glanced at the brooms in the room, put there to chase the correct winged key. He scoffed and looked back at the crazy flock of winged keys. "Yeah, right. Like I am going to use a broom to chase the correct key."
Quinn trained his eyes on the flock, trying to spot the vintage-styled key, and the second he spotted it, Quinn never let his eyes wander off it. He raised his right hand, and the next second, a jet of yellow and red shot out of Quinn's right palm and latched on to the winged key.
He had just used the Seize-and-pull charm (Carpe Retractum). Quinn grinned, and with another thought, the cord of light started becoming shorter as it pulled the key towards Quinn, and within seconds, Quinn had the vintage fashioned key in his hand.
"Now, that is how you do it. Didn't have to move at all," Quinn praised himself as he walked to the wooden door. While humming, Quinn inserted the key into the door and turned it to unlock the door.
The next room was Minerva McGonagall's handiwork. A game of giant chess set with cool-looking chess pieces.
Quinn stopped for a minute and observed the chessboard, admiring the work of masterful and artistic Transfiguration. Quinn looked for clues and signs for what went into creating this work. A prolonged work of Transfiguration was a difficult job.
"The chess pieces are Transmuted into their shapes. Hmm... I can't decipher the original material of the pieces, but they are Transfigured into stone."
Quinn squatted and further examined, "Oh man, the animation charms are brutal on this one. Hot stuff! The swords, axes, shields, and even the bodies."
Like a student in front of a work of a master, Quinn spent some time examining the chessboard till he was satisfied. "Good, now let's bypass," said Quinn as he stood up and started pilling on charms on himself.
First, he made himself invisible so that the chess pieces couldn't see him. Then he casted a charm on every article of his clothing so that they didn't make a sound. Just for safety, Quinn erased his scent in case McGonagall had charmed them to sense smells.
'Let's go!' thought Quinn as he walked on to the chessboard, and step by step, he walked from the white side to the black side. Carefully, looking at the chess pieces to see if they would move and attack him, but they didn't. His heart was pounding when he reached the rows of black pieces and slowly, awfully slowly, stepped between a black pawn and the black queen.
Quinn finally exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and ran to the next room and shut the door behind him.
"Oh well, that was stressful." Quinn leaned against the door. He was sure that if the pieces moved a single centimeter, he would have blasted them smithereens.
At that moment, Quinn noticed the horrendous smell in the new room, and he was immediately reminded of the Troll he fought a few weeks before.
A massive mountain Troll stood in front of him; this one was at least two to three feet larger than the one Quinn had fought. The Troll hadn't noticed Quinn, and Quinn was glad that he hadn't.
In the books, Harry and Hermione didn't have to fight this Troll because Quirrellmort had already taken off it by knocking it out before the duo got to this room.
Quinn, on the other hand, wasn't that lucky and had to deal with this Troll.
"And, I have to deal with it without injuring this one," Quinn sighed, "Luckily, I prepared for this." He took a large round vial out of his robes.
The vial contained a pale lilac-colored potion. The potion was the Draught of Living Death, one of the stronger Sleeping potions, and sent the drinker into a deathlike slumber, but the potion in Quinn's vial was a unique blend.
The Draught of Living Death was a clear-colored potion, but the one in Quinn's vial was a pale lilac. The reason behind this was because it was highly concentrated. It needed to be concentrated because of the Troll's size and physique.
The Troll was sitting on the floor, so Quinn gently rolled the vial towards it. The Troll noticed the vial, picked it up with his index finger and thumb, and bought it close to his face.
This was the sign Quinn was waiting for as he launched a Transmutation spell towards the glass of vial, instantly disintegrating it, and the moment the potion came into contact with air, it turned to mist and became aerosol. Another handy change Quinn made to the recipe, modifying the recipe so the potion would turn to mist when coming into contact with air.
The Troll breathed in the vapor, and within a dozen seconds, the effects showed. The Troll became drowsy and fell to its side, sleeping.
Quinn immediately began moving towards the Troll, continuously casting air freshening charms around him to keep the Troll stink away.
He pulled open the next door, and there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
"Snape's puzzles," spoke Quinn as his voice echoed in the empty room.
The moment Quinn crossed the Threshold, a fire sprang up behind him in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway, leading onward.
Quinn was trapped.
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Quinn West - MC - Explorer of Hogwarts.
-*-*-*-*-*-
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The link is also in the synopsis.
-*-*-*-*-*-
In Snape's obstacle room, Quinn stood in front of the potion table that held seven potion vials.
The room had two handles; one entry and one exit. A purple fire covered the room's entrance, and jets of black fire blocked the exit.
This all was part of the room's defense, the enchanted fires trapped a person inside, and the potions on the table contained the antidotes to both fires.
Quinn looked at both the fires before shrugging and walking to the potion table, 'If I cannot solve the puzzle, then I would just try to undo the charms on the fires.'
Quinn was sure that he could figure out the charms on the fires. It would take time, but Quinn could do it, and a good puzzle was always welcome.
Quinn conjured a barstool in front of the table and sat on it while picking up the parchment. The parchment contained the riddle for the antidotes that allowed Quinn to pass the fires without harm.
The riddle read,
[
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
] [Image in the paragraph comment.]
From the first half of the riddle, Quinn deciphered that one bottle will move him ahead (line 3), one will send him back (line 4), two hold nettle wine (line 5), three hold poison (line 6).
"There are seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get me safely through the black fire, and one will get me back through the purple fire," said Quinn as he continued to decipher the riddle.
From lines nine and ten (9-10), Quinn deciphered,
"There is always poison to the left of nettle wine."
From lines eleven and twelve (11-12), Quinn cracked,
"The bottles on either end of the line contain different contents, but neither will move you forward."
The next two lines, thirteen and fourteen (13-14) revealed,
"The smallest (dwarf) and largest (giant) bottles do not contain poison."
The last two lines (15-16) spoke to Quinn,
"The second from the left and the second from the right is housed in different-sized bottles, but they hold the same contents."
Now, Quinn had all the clues from the riddle, and he could start solving the potion identities.
"First, let's set the with unchangeable constants," Quinn said as he numbered the positions from our left to right.
[1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7]
"Now, insert the constants: the elements second from the left and second from the right are identical, though in different-looking bottles, and poison will always be to the left of nettle wine," said Quinn, but he stopped just before marking things.
"There are two possible ways to arrange these bottles, depending on whether [to nettle wine bottle's left side] means from our left or from the wine bottle's left. But both arrangements ultimately lead to the same end solution of the puzzle," said Quinn as he finally marked the potions.
First combination,
[1 - Poison] - [2 - Wine] - [3 - x] - [4 - y] - [5 - Poison] - [6 - Wine] - [7 - z]
Second combination,
[1 - Wine] - [2 - Poison] - [3 - x] - [4 - y] - [5 - Wine] - [6 - Poison] - [7 - z]
Quinn smiled as he noted, "Whichever way I do it, I satisfy the requirement that the elements second from the end (Position 2 and Position 6) hold the same contents (2 - Wine, 6 - Wine; or 2 - Poison, 6 - Poison), and I also satisfy the requirement on either end. Poison will always appear to the left of the wine, depending on whose left I am using."
Quinn began swinging his legs as he continued to solve the riddle.
"Okay, so now that I have positioned the poison/wine sequences (the constants), we now have three bottles remaining. One is poison, one moves you backward, one moves you forward. Poison cannot be in either giant or dwarf bottle. The bottle on one end of the line cannot hold the same contents as the bottle on the opposite ends. And neither of the bottles on end will move you forward."
"Now, I am going to use that [nettle wine's left] means our left. Poison is always on nettle wine's left, so we can erase the second combination," noted Quinn from clue number one.
[1 - Poison] - [2 - Wine] - [3 - x] - [4 - y] - [5 - Poison] - [6 - Wine] - [7 - z]
"The second clue says that bottles at the ends have different contents and won't help me move forward, which means that it can't be poison and won't be the forward potion," said Quinn, so he noted. "That means it can only be the backward potions! Alright!"
[1 - Poison] - [2 - Wine] - [3 - x] - [4 - y] - [5 - Poison] - [6 - Wine] - [7 - Backward]
"Finally, (3 - x) and (4 - y) can either be poison or forward potion," clapped Quinn and finally used the third clue that says that dwarf and giant potions don't have poison.
While the books didn't show the readers the layout, but Quinn could see the layout, and (3 - x) was the shortest bottle and thus the dwarf bottle.
"If it isn't poison, then it is the forward potion, and the remaining (4 - y) is the remaining poison," solved Quinn, and the final result was as follows,
[1 - Poison] - [2 - Wine] - [3 - Forward] - [4 - Poison] - [5 - Poison] - [6 - Wine] - [7 - Backward]
Quinn folded the sheet of paper and pocketed it. He took out two vials and poured the contents of the forward and backward potions into them.
He placed the now empty vials back on the table and looked to see if they would fill themselves up, but nothing happened.
Quinn shrugged, "I will break one leg of the table, so it would seem that the potion drained when the table broke."
He walked to the black fire and chugged down the forward potion. He pocketed the bottle and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flames licking his body, but couldn't feel them — for a moment he could see nothing but dark fire — then he was on the other side, in the last chamber.
The chamber was empty, not unlike the previous one, and in the center of the room stood a mirror. The mirror was on the base level of the floor with steps leading down to it.
Quinn climbed down the steps and approached the mirror. The writing engraved on the frame of the mirror said,
「Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.」
Quinn smiled softly and repeated, "I show not your face but your heart's desire."
Quinn's heart beat faster as he shifted his eyes from the frame to the mirror itself. He was a little nervous about what he would see in the mirror. Quinn closed his eyes before opening them to see what his heart desired.
In the mirror, a version of Quinn stared back at him. The mirror-Quinn was exuding a humongous amount of magic; the current Quinn had large magic reserves, but mirror-Quinn was on another level. To Quinn, it seemed that mirror-Quinn could never run out of magic.
Quinn also saw that mirror-Quinn's eyes were a deep-violet instead of his usual stone-grey eyes. Quinn found himself staring into the deep-violet eyes, wondering the reason behind the color change.
From what Quinn could decipher, the mirror-Quinn was a master at magic, a powerful magical at that. It had always been one of Quinn's top goals.
Quinn looked around the mirror-Quinn and saw his family, all smiling. He saw Lia, George, Elliot, Ms. Rosey, and Polly. Even Alan D. Baddeley, his mind arts teacher, was present in the mirror image. In the background, Quinn could see a globe turning slowly; it signified Quinn's desire to learn magic from all around the world.
Quinn finally looked at mirror-Quinn wanting the Philosopher's stone, but mirror-Quinn smiled apologetically and shook his head.
Quinn frowned and asked, "Why?"
Mirror-Quinn took out a ruby-red stone from his robes and showed it to Quinn; it was the Philosopher's stone. Then mirror-Quinn took out his fake wand and then stared at both of his hands. Quinn watched as the fake wand in mirror-Quinn's hand turned into gold. Mirror-Quinn didn't stop and took out a potion vial and put the stone on the vial, and Quinn saw the vial fill up with a crystal blue liquid; it was the Elixir of Life.
Quinn ruefully smiled and spoke, "If I get the stone, I will end up using it, aren't I?" Albus Dumbledore had charmed the mirror so that only those who wanted to 'find' it and not 'use' it for themselves.
The mirror-Quinn nodded in agreement, and that made Quinn sigh.
"All this work was for nothing?" exasperated Quinn and ran a hand through his hair. He backed away from the mirror and sat on the steps, sighing.
He looked up at the dark ceiling and pondered. Quinn had already thought about this outcome, but he still tried this, convincing himself that he only wanted to see the stone.
"I guess I can't fool my own heart?" Quinn said to himself and kept sitting there before deciding he had brooded enough and it was time to exit the stone's chambers.
Quinn climbed the steps but not before giving the Mirror of Erised one last time.
Quinn ran through the black fire and entered Snape's room, and noticed that the vials were against full. He walked to the table and muttered, "Maybe, it takes time to recharge." He shrugged and took the backward potion to pass the purple fire.
He groaned as the Troll's stench hit him and kicked the unconscious Troll to release some frustration. Then once again walked as he stepping on eggshells as he passed through McGonagall's chessboard, hurriedly walked through Flitwick's winged-key room, and reached Sprout's Devil's Snare.
Once again, multiple orbs of harsh light scared the vines away and used the Seize-and-pull spell (Carpus Retractum) to latch one end of the cord to just near the trapdoor and pulled himself up.
Just before he opened the trapdoor, Quinn conjured a violin, animated it to play a piece, and sent it out of the trapdoor so that when Quinn exited, Fluffy, the Cerberus would be fast asleep.
Quinn waited for half a minute before exiting the trapdoor to see a sleeping Fluffy and walked out the Underground chambers, but not before turning invisible and checking the surroundings in Recon.
When the Ravenclaw students returned, Quinn was waiting for Eddie and Marcus for them in the common room.
Quinn asked the moment Eddie and Marcus walked to him, "How was the game?"
Marcus looked excited and answered, "It was one exciting game; you should have seen Harry Potter on the broom. He was weaving through the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle."
Quinn turned to Eddie when he spoke, "He was pretty good. No, he was mad-good for his age. His broom did give him some problems during the game, but he still managed to snatch the snitch." He scoffed, "You would think that Nimbus would make good brooms."
Quinn absentmindedly nodded and thought, 'No change in this event.'
"I see."
- (Scene Break) -
A few days later, Quinn had an interesting conversation with someone he wasn't expecting to talk to. Quinn was walking from the Room Of Requirement to the Great Hall when he met Lily Potter. Quinn didn't want to talk to her after his passionate rant, but the Muggle studies professor called out to him.
"Mr. West," Lily called when she saw him.
Quinn groaned internally before turning to face her, "Evening, Professor Potter."
"A good evening to you as well, Mr. West. I assume you are going to the Great Hall," she asked, and when Quinn nodded, she asked, "Wonderful, walk with me."
Quinn fell in step with Lily and was wondering if he should make small talk, but Lily took care of that,
"I thought about the things you said to me when we first met," she said, and Quinn really didn't want to talk about that, but then she asked, "Tell me, Mr. West. When did you start visiting the muggle world?"
Quinn wondered why she was asking that but then shrugged and answered, "I have been in contact with the non-magical world as long as I can remember. I, with my sister, regularly spend our time together in the non-magical world. I have also been to various parts of the world and have experienced both their magical and non-magical parts."
Now that the conversation was on a roll, Quinn decided to ask, "What about you, Professor Potter; how did you raise the twins? Are they familiar with the non-magical world?"
"Yes, they are. Both of my children attended muggle schools before coming to Hogwarts," Lily smiled as she revealed.
Quinn nodded in appreciation, "Is that so? I never did that. I was homeschooled, but not in non-magical subjects. Maybe one day, I will study those subjects." He looked up towards her and asked, "What about you? Did you catch up with your non-magical studies?"
Lily shook her head while chuckling, "Oh, no. I was too busy with the twins, and now I am teaching here at Hogwarts."
She hesitated before asking, "May I ask how did you build such a good rapport with Professor Snape?"
Quinn quirked his brows and spoke in confusion, "Professor Potter, maybe you are misinformed; I barely talk to Professor Snape, much less have a good rapport with him."
"But, the other Professor said that you are his favorite student, so I wondered..." she sounded that she really wanted an answer.
"Professor, from what I have heard and observed, Professor Snape ..." he stopped before staring her dead in the eyes and asked, "I am going to tell you something in confidence, and anything I say wouldn't make its way to anyone else, can you keep this a secret. I don't want Professor Snape to hear this. Can you promise me that?"
Lily was confused but nodded, so Quinn continued, "Honestly speaking, Professor Snape doesn't enjoy teaching. Heck, Professor Snape doesn't know how to teach; compared to Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall, he seems like a poor novice." Snape was a master potioneer, but that mastery didn't convert to skill in teaching, and if Snape heard this, then Quinn's potion lessons would go from pleasantly calm to outright miserable.
"From his point of view, all the students are dunderheads, which is not really how a teacher should view his students, and the reason I am treated differently is that I follow his instructions without any mistakes, am not annoying, and keep out of his way. Plus, I am not sure about this, but I think he tolerates me because I am genuinely interested in Potions, but the jury is still out on the last one." Quinn looked proud as he continued, "I am proud to say that Professor Snape hasn't yelled at me or cut points from me even once. I only communicate with Professor Snape when he asks me to answer a question or during the roll call, except that he and I don't talk that much."
"But, don't you have questions for him; you just said that he is a master potioneer; don't you want to learn from someone of that level?" asked Lily. She had been the smartest witch of her generation, and not communicating with her teachers seemed absolutely strange to her.
Quinn hummed in thought before replying, "Professor, there are many types of learners. Some require another person to stand on their head to motivate them to learn, some need step-by-step guidance, some learn by doing, and some prefer to learn by themselves. I am of the last type; I prefer to learn at my own pace and at my own convenience. Books and other texts are my best friends; they have everything I need. I haven't felt the need to consult with a professor if I can learn it by myself. Of course, by this, I am not saying that there is no need for teachers; as I said, there are all kinds of learners, and teachers help all types of learners."
"But, why the sudden interest in Professor Snape," asked Quinn, who felt that the conversation was getting out of track and slowly becoming about him, so he brought it back to the original topic.
Lily ruefully smiled, hearing that, asked, "You see, Severus, is... was my friend, but we had a falling out, and I am thinking how to make up with him, but I have no idea how to approach that." She didn't know why she was asking a twelve for advice.
Quinn stayed silent for a moment, and Lily thought she had made him uncomfortable. She was about to say something when Quinn spoke, "I am not an authority on relationships, and I do not know how Professor Snape is in his personal life. But if I were to give advice, then I would say to be prepared, a broken relationship can have a lot of hidden emotions, and the message you are trying to convey might not go across, so choose your words wisely."
Quinn paused for just a second, "And if the other party is not willing to start the conversation, you must be the one to approach them. Take charge and show that your friendship means something. Explain why you felt hurt or angry. Ask about your friend's perspective. Keep an open mind as you listen to your friend speak. And, at last, be ready to walk away if you two can't resolve the issue."'
Quinn knew why Lily and Snape had a falling out, and while it was entirely Snape's fault, it wasn't weird that Lily had forgiven him after so many years, time heals wounds, and now she wanted to rebuild her friendship with her childhood friend, the one who introduced her to magic.
By the time Quinn finished giving his opinion, they had reached the Great Hall, and Quinn said before parting, "I hope you may be successful in your endeavor, Professor Potter. Now, please excuse me."
Quinn left without giving Lily a chance to reply, leaving her to think about what she just heard and what she needed to do.
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Quinn West - MC - Solving riddles, giving advice, what can't he do?!
Quirrell's second Troll - Mountain Troll - *Grunt* *Ugh* [Troll sleepy]...
Lily Potter - Muggle studies professor - A kind woman.
-*-*-*-*-*-
If you have any ideas regarding the magic you want to see in this fiction or want to offer some ideas regarding the progression. Move onto the DISCORD Server and blast those ideas.
The link is in the synopsis!
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