Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and its world belong to J. K Rowling. I only own the original characters I made.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
Hogwarts was shrouded in a veil of summer mist, a frequent phenomenon in Scotland, but mostly associated with coastal landscapes. Although the castle wasn't anywhere near the sea, it had a huge reservoir of it's own, The Black Lake. No matter its depth, the dark waters wouldn't reveal it's mysteries. Leaving the onlookers in a state of permament second guessing whenever they found themselves against its shores. However, there was one inhabitant that made its appearance known to most students, the Great Squid. During the warmer parts of the year; Spring, Summer and early Autumn an occasional tentacle breaking the screen of water could be observed by few.
The flat plain next to the body of water has become a place of training for the new staff member. Robert Crow could be seen running and doing basic workouts at the crack of dawn.
"The air is just different." He groaned as he stretched his hamstrings. "And thank God Professor Sprout had something for those pesky bugs."
Mosquitoes, flies and other bugs plagued the teen when he first started his fitness journey at Hogwarts. Not at all surprising considering the lake was the best habitat for them. Tired from chasing the swarms away he finally folded and asked the teacher for help.
"A shame that they smell so bad." He glanced at the nearby pot containing his weapon against all buzzing creatures, Rhodesian Grey Asters.
The flowers looked beautiful, their petals almost transparent. However the smell reminded him of fermentation gone horribly wrong.
"Living next to chicken coups and cowsheds finally came through." Although the scent was horrible he could bear it by using his past experience of living in a village.
Done for now, Robert wiped of his sweat and used a couple of shortcuts to get to his room. A sleeping Zephyr greeted him as he threw his jumper into a special bin, so the house elves would know he wanted it washed. After a quick hot shower Robert headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
"It's surprising to see you here, Baths." He greeted the dozing off witch. "Don't you usually eat at your quarters?"
"Damn that seductress, making me wake up at this ungodly hour." A large mug of coffee was prepared especially for her by the elves.
"Were is Sinistra?" During his three weeks here in Hogwarts he got to know a little bit about every teacher.
Bathsheda was the second youngest member of the staff, being 2 years older then Robert. Sinistra was older then her by one year. Despite being from different years and houses the duo had a rather close friendship.
"Probably still chosing her clothes." The dark brown haired witch released a happy sigh after taking a sip. "She really got good beans this time around."
"Oh? A fellow coffee enjoyer on the Isles of Britain? What blasphemy is this?" He said theatrically in a mocking tone.
"Spare me the soap opera." She pinched his arm. "Still running around like a Graphorn?"
"You should join me sometimes." He offered with a cheeky grin.
"Nice try." She said while taking a piece of tost. "I'd rather study runes than sweat like a dog."
"But dogs don't sweat, right?"
"Only through their paws." The witch replied. "And that's why you should keep your sweaty grubby palms away from me."
"I showered, thank you very much." He sniffed.
"Should I throw you a bone as a reward?" She sniggered.
"No wonder Zephyr likes you." Sometimes the owl hanged out with the witch. Making him come back late at night.
"You should give him to me." She replied with a rare for her pleading tone. "He's the best owl rune spotter I've ever seen."
"He's the only one?." He rolled his eyes. "Don't post owls have that in common?"
Magically trained owls have had their sight and intuitive senses trained to near perfection. How would they otherwise find the recipients all over the world? Of course owl repelling wards existed in this world. However not many wizards had them put out.
"That's true, but Zephyr is more humanlike somehow." She remarked.
"That I can't deny." He sometimes wondered if the accident gave him a boost to his cognitive abilities.
"Nevertheless the she-demon is late." She scoffed as her friend was already over 40 minutes late. "And she's the one that wanted to go so much."
"It's Appleby Arrows verses Holyhead Harpies?" He asked.
"Yeah, she got tickets from her friend. She's in the main squad this year."
"Then I'm wishing you a great game."
"Hopefully it'll end quickly. Harpies got the better seeker." She said offhandedly.
"Not a sport's fan, I gather?" He chuckled.
"No way, how did you know?" She ignored his happy face. "What about you, how's your magic been doing?"
"I'm doing fine." He replied. "McGonagall stopped grumbling after the forth time I asked her for guidance."
"You should pester Snape." She dared.
"How about you first look straight into his eyes for more than a second?"
"Hmph. I didn't finish school to fraternize with him."
"It's good you understand this, Ms. Babbling." If there was any ounce of sleepiness in her then the unexpected voice of the Potion Master got rid of it.
Robert's eyes twinkled playfully as the witch cursed him in her mind.
"Hello, professor." He looked at the menacing figure before him. "It's unusual to see you out of your office at this hour."
"I'm afraid it's none of your concern what I'm doing here, Mr. Crow." The older wizard sat at the other end of the table, far away from the other staff members.
"I'm going to murder you." The witches hissed into Robert's ears.
"Oh please, I'm ready to bet he's happy to not be on the end of your nonsensical drivel." He teased the peeved witch.
"Did I miss something?" Sinistra finally decided to grace the world with her presence.
"Your friend got herself on Snape's bad side." Robert whispered.
"How daring of you, Little Miss Perfect." Bathsheda cheeks blushed.
"Why can't I have more serious friends?" The duo laughed at her plight.
With breakfast out of way Robert Crow reached an unused classroom. Ever since he got his wand this space served him as his study. He thought about using the Room of Requirements, however he was afraid someone would need him for assistance. A disappearing act just before the semester wouldn't have been seen as funny by the stern vice headmistress.
"The first level charms are very easy." He checked off the list another spell from the book.
He copied from the guidelines what was expected from a first year and went through the list in order of importance. Charms that were relevant to his situation were learnt first. The levitating charm being one of them. This didn't mean he didn't teach himself something useful on the side. With a toothy smile he looked at the supposedly banned piece of literature. Not wanting to walk on somebody's parade he informed the Headmaster of his purchase and got the permission to keep it.
"The kids won't know what hit them." With a mischievous smile he watched as the map was changing on his phone in real time.
"No wonder the silent charms are banned." They're one of the rare pieces of magic anyone can cast wordlessly. However, they did have a glaring weakness. They're easy to discover by warning charms and very fragile to outward interference. Making it almost impossible to stalk behind purebloods and older students that knew any better.
"I'll just have to find another way to silence my footsteps." He mused.
"I didn't think you were a predator." With Bathsheda gone the owl finally remembered who was his partner.
"Please." The teen scoffed. "They're but my unsuspecting training partners."
"That didn't sound any better, Bob." The owl jumped towards the desk. "Nifty thing you've got your hands on."
"The map? It's one magnificent piece of work." Zephyr was the only one besides him who could see the device.
"What did you do with the original?"
"Placed it back." Robert replied. "It was of no use for me either way."
"What about someone using it against you." Zephyr remarked with suspicion.
"They'd need to know the password." The phone didn't care about the security of the map when it copied the parchments enchantments. Although Robert did realize one thing, articles of magical nature needed more time to scan. Just this one map alone took a week to process.
"I still believe you should've gotten rid of it. So it won't bite you in the ass later."
Robert didn't comment further as he didn't want to share his true thoughts on the matter.
"How's the forest doing?" He blatantly changed the subject.
Rolling his eyes Zephyr climbed on to the boy's shoulder. "A rowdy bunch, those poachers. Tried to catch a young unicorn fowl."
"Quite the balls on them. Who'd even dare?"
"Money moves, Robert." Zephyr said in a sagely tone. "They still died under the leader's hoofs."
"Will there be any consequences?" He was worried the Ministry will use this as an excuse to gun the creature down.
"Only if they find the bodies." The owl crowed with a hint of viciousness.
"Sad they won't let me out to Hogsmeade." After he returned from Diagon Alley he became somewhat of a prisoner, because of the rise of nefarious activities there. Knowing his proclivity to trouble the headmaster politely asked him to stay at Hogwart's grounds until the problem was solved.
"Rosemerta told you to listen, so stop whining." He jabbed at the boy's ear. "You still have half a dozen Butterbeers for your woes."
"But it's not the same and you still go there every single day." He gave the owl the stink eye.
"I'm but a humble owl in everyone's eyes."
"Lucky them." The owl fell off as Robert flicked Zephyr on the head.
"I fell and I'm staying this way." A mournful hoot came from the floor.
"Should I offer something as tribute?"
"Peanuts of the divine kind, dear sir."
"You'll get regular." With a swish of his wand a bowl of food landed next to the owl, that was resting comfortably on a pillow.
"How splendid." Zephyr tossed a peanut into his beak. "It only took you two weeks to not spill even one of them. Wordlessly no less."
Flustered, Robert ignored the not so quiet crunching and immersed himself deeply into his study of magic.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Robert walked into the Charm Professor's office.
The room was filled to the brim with books. Not even the poor floorboards escaped the fate of being clattered with piles of tomes. The scent of paper and cupcakes delightfully tickled the teen's nose.
"Robert," the wizard greeted the boy, "Come sit down."
The blond watched with curiosity the man's enthusiasm. With more questions than answers he sat down at the coffee table.
"How may I be of service, Professor." He asked politely.
"None of that official nonsense, Robert." The wizard replied cheerfully. "A cupcake?"
"Blueberry and hazelnut?" He grabbed the rather big piece of bakery. It was bigger than his fist.
"Local produce, straight from the villigers."
With some hesitation Robert peeled the bakeing paper away and took a small bite.
"This is," he gulped, "delicious!" He blurt out.
"Were you expecting otherwise?" The wizard asked with a wry smile.
"Once you try Hagrid's rock cakes you become jaded for life, Professor." He still remembered the harrowing experience of almost chipping his tooth when he had to try it as Hagrid was watching him closely with puppy eyes.
"Next time try the Softening charm." The small wizard winked. "It works wonders for us."
"Is that why these cupcakes are so fluffy?" He shot the Professor with a wry smile of his own.
"Years of dedication made these cupcakes possibly." He was hurt by that remark.
"I didn't want to offend you professor." Robert apologized. "I just sometimes forget how even the most trivial spells can have an unexpected application."
"That they do." The Charm Professor nodded in agreement. "How is your progress? It's almost the end of August. Minerva gave subtle praises during our last meeting."
"She did?" Robert felt a little bit hot from embarrassment. "You can't be good at everything I suppose."
Transfiguration had a harder entry point than Charms. To change an object to another requires not only great will, but understanding of its structure. Visualizing what you want the magic to alter within and on the outside.
"I must admit I've found a whole new level of appreciation towards Mrs. McGonagall and the Headmaster." He sighed. "The piles of information they had to remember beforehand and the graceful flow of their wandwork makes me feel inadequate sometimes."
"It's understandable, Robert." Flitwick comforted the teen. "Minerva was and still is a once of a lifetime genius when it comes to transfiguration. She learnt personally from the best."
"She's even better than Dumbledore?" Robert's curiousity brewed.
"In some aspects, yes." The wizard replied. "However her rigidness makes it harder for her magic to flow naturally. Especially when creating something from her imagination."
"Transfigurations do feel a little bit constraining." Robert remarked. "That's why I'm more advanced with my charm work."
"And where has it taken you..." The wizard paused as a book silently flowed into his lap. "Oh my. A wordless incantation of the levitating spell."
"I've kept the chinks and cracks to a minimum." The teen said with pride in his voice.
"How splendid." The professor clapped. "I'd have given 10 points if I could."
"That low?" Robert joked.
"If you had been in my NEWT class, this would've been the minimum requirement to pass." Flitwick replied with jovialness of his own. "It's easier for adults to will something, Robert. However, its the young ones that have a spring full of imagination."
"So you're saying that it's surprising why I'm not so good in Transfiguration?"
"What I'm saying is you should gauge yourself with a different measure." The teacher replied. "Unless you want to keep playing as a student for 7 years."
"That was quite harsh, Professor." Robert was caught by surprise, not expecting to get an earful from him.
"I'm only trying to show you the reality of your situation. And throw a couple of incentives."
"What constitutes as an incentive, Professor?"
"We've been tasked by the Headmaster to make you take your OWL's as quickly as possible."
"He didn't say anything about it to me." He wondered what was the old man plotting.
"That's why you're here." A rare smirk appeared on the wizard's face. "I wanted to officially inform that you'll be given a different schedule than the rest of the students."
"That's fair, but even though I can somehow make do with the test based subjects, you can't actually expect me to fly through Potions. Not to mention Transfiguration"
"Minerva told me you're done with the eighth exercise, almost one semester." Flitwick noted. "Some would say that's a fast pace."
"Only because I've got nothing to do here until school starts." The teen showed a rare side of him as he grumbled like a child.
"I think we know how to judge your progress, Mr. Crow." Flitwick smiled. "So why don't you show me, how much you've learned."
Robert gulped seeing the no nonsense grin on man before him. "I understand, sir."