A Harry Potter Quest: He who was not

Present Date: 5th​ October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core


Runes Club, something interesting or crap? → 1D100+2 → 27(25 + 2) → Crap again.


You were the last one left in the spacious room that the Runes Club had officially reserved for their activities. While the club members had been a lot less inquisitive to ask you questions as to what had happened a week prior, you still felt the need to savor the tranquil silence that was Solitudes most loyal companion.

Megan and you had been quietly studying and reading next to each other for the last few hours, only to be disturbed by another finding one of the guys had made. While he had been sure to have found a magic item of most importance and high rarity, someone had identified the object as an old and used joke article…

Their track record for finding interesting things had been abysmal since you had joined their ranks.

The Hufflepuff girl who had been silently working next to you had eventually left you, heading down for dinner. But that had been a few hours ago as well. By now the shadows of the outside-world had engulfed Hogwarts and its surrounding lands in darkness as the night had arrived. There was half an hour to curfew when you finally stood up, packing your things into your bag before heading out into the empty corridor.

Your eyes skimmed over the notes you had been working on today, using your old schoolbooks and something that you had gotten from the library to filter out everything you knew about spirits.

• A ghost is the disembodied spirit of a once-living wizard or witch, and as such, a type of spirit.
• Only magical beings can become ghosts.
• Many ghosts take up residence within Hogwarts' castle. These fleshless spirits are either afraid of death or have some extraordinarily strong connection to the locations they haunt.

Is there more to their motivation?

• In their paranormal state, ghosts are unable to have much physical influence. They are visible and appear as a greyish-silver apparition of their former (living) selves.
• They pass through solid objects without damaging themselves or the material, but create disturbances in water, fire and air.
• The temperature drops in the immediate vicinity of a ghost. Their appearance can also turn flames blue.

Observing Professor Binns provided new insights. Do ghosts see the same world we do? Do they experience lay-overs from their past life or is there more to it?


The literature you had available couldn't provide you with answers going deeper than the most superficial. It was as if people dismissed ghosts as some sort of afterimage. Just a painting to remember someone who had once been.

It could very well be true, but there was room for more, wasn't there?


Muggles cannot see ghosts clearly, nor can they come back as ghosts. It is those with 'unfinished business', whether in the form of fear, guilt, regrets or overt attachment to the material world who refuse to move on to the next dimension, but the element most needed is Magic.

Only Sally-Anne's magic was able to keep so much of her alive.

And with all of that came the most interesting question. Something that reminded you of someone back home; a very old man that was wise and witty, who had taught you some of the principles of the world and who had showed you how to stay alive way past ones prime.

You pushed the door behind you shut with a flick of your wand and a whispered: "Colloportus."

Can magic lengthen life forever? Replace life… a body?

These were questions way beyond your possibilities. You had no way of tackling them, but they were fascinating.

Magic has rules, but are there even actual limitations? If Sally-Anne's untrained magic was able to hold her in this world, what would her matured magic have been capable of?

When you crossed into another corridor, something bright moved to your left, bringing you to look up at the spirit.

Just for a moment you thought that she had come back. That Sally-Anne's stubborn magic had found a way around her will and simply brought her back into existence. It didn't take you long to recognize the ghost in the long, meticulously sewed dress.

It was your house ghost. Someone you had always liked, because she was just as quiet and observant as you were.

"Good evening, Grey Lady", you said.



Even in her silvery spirit form you could see that she had once been beautiful. She was tall, well dressed and in her eyes, hidden behind what others called timidity, you could see knowledge and wisdom.

She was as excellent a choice for your house as one could have hoped for. You could still vividly imagine the first time you had seen her. It was as if it had been but moments ago.

It was the first of September. You were eleven years old and were standing amid almost forty nervous children. It had been the first time in your life that you had seen so many people near your age. The sorting would soon begin, even if you didn't know yet how you would be sorted into the different houses.

You remembered how fascinated you had been by the Great Hall and its students. The scent of burning candles reached your nose as you looked around, facing those that were seating at the tables, whispering about your group.

A tall silvery thing came through the ceiling, soon to be followed by other spirits, floating through the Great Hall to circle around you and your group. Some were smiling, some seemed mad – they were playing their respective roles.

You remembered when you had first seen the Grey Lady. She was floating somewhat behind the others, taking time to focus on the group of soon to be sorted children. She arrived accompanied by the ghost of the Cavalier and another ghost following close to them; a horrible ghost, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. The bloody Baron.

Only after you had been sorted the Grey Lady had spoken to you. "Welcome to my house", she had said, a forced smile on her face. Even back than you had seen that the smile had never reached her eyes.

She had looked sad to you.

"Good evening, Jacob", she said, a small smile on her lips. "You should get going. The curfew has almost arrived."

You nodded, still taking the time to fold your notes together carefully and put them back into your notebook before letting it fall into your bag altogether.

"Would you mind accompanying me?" you asked her as you shouldered your bag again. "I feel like we never get to talk at all."

Her first reaction was a more genuine smile that you had ever seen on her face. She looked flattered and just for a short moment you could see the person that she had been before her death. But then something happened to her, sadness overcame her as she fell back into her usual sad smile, not even looking at you anymore, instead directing her eyes at the painting of an empty room.

"Another time, surely", she said.

"Another time", you repeated after her, standing in the dark floor and observing the ghost that you knew nothing about. She was always helpful to those of your house, like a mother looking after her children. She showed students the way when they were lost or helped them track their things.

But you had never realized that you knew nothing about her.

"Take care of yourself", you said, trying to sound genuine. She didn't look at you again.

---

Present Date: 7th​ October 1993
Current Wand: Fagus wood, Phoenix feather core

You watched attentively following the movements of his wand, when he spoke the next word: "Proligno", he said pointing at the ground between him and his opponent. The large table that Professor Flitwick had transformed into a massive wooden stage was what the Dueling Club used for the duels after each week's practice.

The partners were rotating, but the Professor was seemingly always trying to do good matchups and keep the skill level in a fair range.

Watching the pairs had given you a good estimation as to where you stood. What you had learned; the boy that you were watching right now could mob the floor with you at any time.

His spell brightened the room until it hit the stage between him and his opponent. The ground protested for a short moment, only for a thick wooden wall to erupt out of it so fast that it was still able to catch the blue spell the other boy had casted.

Quidditch captain, Seeker and Prefect were some of the titles Cedric Diggory had earned in his school years before. This year it seemed as if he wanted to add the title of Dueling Champion to his curriculum.

"Immobulus", Cedric shouted.

And his opponent fell.

The room stayed silent for a few moments. You didn't need to look around to know how attentively even those older than Cedric were watching. While there were still one or two upper-years that were better than him in skill, no one could simply discard his rapid growth. He was the only fifth year contending on eye-level with those that were about to graduate.

"Winner, Cedric Diggory! Fantastic fight, the both of you", Professor Flitwick finally said with his cheery voice.

The both of you had not talked about what had happened in the office and you knew it was simply because he knew how the entire situation was bothering you. He had kept his focus on everything else but you for the entire week. That was why you were almost surprised when he turned around and addressed you directly.

"Mr. Basques, Miss Davis, you are the next ones", he said, making you turn your head to the blonde menace that had slithered her way into being your unofficial rival in this club. "You are up next."

You took your time in standing up and closing the notebook that you had been writing into. You had noted down the spells that you had heard the others use for a later point in the school year, when you had finally tackled some of your current projects.

Passing by Diggory, you congratulated him with a nod and made your way up to the stage yourself. On the other side of the long stage the blonde Slytherin was already waiting. Her face was one of glee and anticipation.

"Do we want to start-…", you tried to ask, when Tracey had already raised her wand for the first strike.


Tracey Attack → 1D100+11 → 30(19 + 11)

Jacob Defense → 1D100+14 → 58(44 + 14)


"Incendio!" she shouted, moving her hand as fast through the required movements as possible. Her casting was fast, but hasty and rushed. Instead of throwing something between the both of you and defend yourself like you had done last time, you simply stepped aside this time around, letting the hot flame fly past you and hitting the wall on the other side of the room.

"Firy one!" you heard a female voice shout in support from the sitting arrangement close to the stage. "Go get him!"

Well, it wasn't as if you had expected much support anyway.


Jacob Attack → 1D100+14 → 40(26 + 14)

Tracey Defense → 1D100+16 → 33(17 + 16)


"Tarantallegra", you said, pulling your wand up to aim at her legs. Tracey Davis jumped over the invisible spell with an ease as if she had been expecting it. The jump was superb, that you had to say. The landing sucked though. Her ankle gave in and made her trip, giving you enough time to repeat your spell.

"Flipendo", you said, aiming at her falling body and trying to end the fight. The Slytherin was partially hit by the spell, being rocketed back as if she had been hit by a punch to her side but keeping herself on her two feet still.

When she looked up at you, you realized that you were in a perilous situation. There was fire in her eyes and her jaw was set in determination. She was about to take this very seriously.


Tracey Attack → 1D100+11 → 101(90 + 11)

Jacob Defense → 1D100+14 → 103(89 + 14)


This time there was no hastiness to her. Her movements were swift and her casting flawless. "Incendio", she said again, doubling down on what was becoming her key offensive spell. The fireball that erupted out of her wand was not one expected of a third-year, nor was it anything that she could repeat too easily. It was just that for this one spell her magic had bent to her will.

She was still in the middle of her casting when you had moved to defend again. The Flipendo left your lips just before Tracey had finished her spell. You saw the fireball of death that came into existence were there should usually be nothing more than a spark of fire.

Her spell headed straight for you, while your charm targeted a specific wall that had been created in the fight before yours. The moment your spell hit the part connecting the wooden wall to the ground you casted your second spell.

If this didn't work, you might well spend the night with Madam Pomfrey.

"Wingardium Leviosa", you said, ripping the thin but sturdy wall out of its place to levitate it a bit higher into the air. It intervened just in the right moment to be engulfed in flames that had been aimed at you.


Jacob Attack → 1D100+14 → 103(89 + 14)

Tracey Defense → 1D100+16 → 55(39 + 16)


Tracey had cast the more powerful spell, taking time to do it right. In that that short frame you had pulled two spells together to try and defend yourself. It had not been the most ingenious tactic, but it had been one of the few things that had been possible to you considering your poor spell variance.

You knew that you would have a disadvantage in any real duel with an opponent that knew more than a handful of offensive and defensive spells.

"Spongify", you said, aiming at Tracey.

She raised her wand in defense again, before shouting: "Protego!"

Oh. Had she really learned that spell already?

A weak shield of magic came into life just in front of her, only wide enough to protect her slim body. You couldn't help but smile. The Slytherin girl had shown tremendous growth in just as much as a month, even going so far as to learn the shielding spell that Professor Flitwick had shown you. You had not misjudged her by thinking of her as the driven and hard-working type.

Sadly, simple hard-work was not always enough.

Your spell flew right past her shield and her, only coming to a halt when it impacted on the ground a few meters behind the stage. Her shield wavered the moment you saw confusion hit her face. She was not sure if you had simply missed or if there was more to your attack.

"I wanted to give you a soft landing", you explained, raising your wand for the last spell: "Flipendo!"

It was just as fast as the first one had been, but this time it was actually meant as an offensive move. The spell travelled past the remnants of the burning wooden wall and hit Tracey's wavering shield dead center… and just as you had thought, it broke right through it and let her shield collapse. Your magic knocked Tracey back into the air, letting her fall on the spot that you had softened just a moment earlier.

"Winner is Mr. Basques", you heard Professor Flitwick say at the same time as you heard the blonde Slytherin shout at you in rage.

You were starting to really like this club.



Dueling classes are over and there is still much on your mind. What do you want to do? If there is something specific you want to include into a conversation, please include it in the vote.


[ ] Wands up – It seems as if for the first time in your life there is someone that sees you as their rival in something other than academic prowess. Tracey Davis is working hard to keep up with your dueling progress, you can tell. Go and talk to her.

[ ] Hello Professor – Stay for another few minutes and try to talk to Professor Flitwick. You have not had the chance to talk to your Head of House since both of you had been thrown against his office walls like ragdolls.

[ ] Look behind your shoulders – While he is steadily looking upwards, trying to catch up to those that are finishing their education in a desperate bit to surpass them before they leave the school, you have your eyes on his back. Cedric Diggory might be the most talented and hard-working member of the club… but that was only until you had joined the class. Go and talk to him.

[ ] Detached from this world – Both Tracey Davis and Cedric Diggory are only part of your world inside the club room. There it is the circumstances that make them interesting. Outside of it, they don't matter to you and Professor Flitwick knows to respect your silence. Go, take a shower and and head out to explore the castle again.